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Simon Peach
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It seem incredulous to me that the Milky Way was formed just 13.775 million years after the start of the universe. If this is correct was it in the form that it is today?
Simon Peach said:It seem incredulous to me that the Milky Way was formed just 13.775 million years after the start of the universe. If this is correct was it in the form that it is today?
You're confusing 13.775 billion years which is the present day age of the Universe since the start of the Big Bang, with the age of the Milky Way galaxy, which is 13.2 billion years. That's basically the age of the globular clusters, which formed first. Then it took a few billion years for the disk to settle down and start forming stars.Simon Peach said:It seem incredulous to me that the Milky Way was formed just 13.775 million years after the start of the universe. If this is correct was it in the form that it is today?
I understand there's evidence of a major disruption from 10-8 Gya during which few new stars formed, perhaps due to a collision and merger of some sortalantheastronomer said:You're confusing 13.775 billion years which is the present day age of the Universe since the start of the Big Bang, with the age of the Milky Way galaxy, which is 13.2 billion years. That's basically the age of the globular clusters, which formed first. Then it took a few billion years for the disk to settle down and start forming stars.
That's interesting! Do you have a link to a source? My knowledge of recent advances is woefully inadequate...TEFLing said:I understand there's evidence of a major disruption from 10-8 Gya during which few new stars formed, perhaps due to a collision and merger of some sort
Interesting. I had never before heard of a galaxy being incredulous.Simon Peach said:It seem incredulous to me that the Milky Way was formed just 13.775 million years after the start of the universe. If this is correct was it in the form that it is today?
http://www.stsci.edu/~tremblay/Research1.htmlalantheastronomer said:That's interesting! Do you have a link to a source? My knowledge of recent advances is woefully inadequate...
This is just a press release reiterating the conclusions of the MNRAS journal article...TEFLing said:
The Milky Way galaxy is estimated to be around 13.51 billion years old, based on measurements of its oldest stars.
The age of the Milky Way galaxy was determined through various methods, including the study of its oldest stars, the motion of stars in the galaxy, and the age of its globular clusters.
The Milky Way galaxy is considered to be quite old compared to other galaxies in the universe. It is estimated to be one of the oldest galaxies in the Local Group, which is a cluster of galaxies that includes the Milky Way and Andromeda.
Yes, the age of the Milky Way has changed over time as the galaxy has evolved. When it first formed, it was a much smaller and simpler structure, and has since grown and changed through the merging of smaller galaxies and the formation of new stars.
By understanding the age of the Milky Way, scientists can gain insight into the formation and evolution of galaxies in general. It can also help us better understand the history and processes that have shaped our own galaxy, as well as the conditions that allowed for the development of life on Earth.