by Galaxian » Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:39 pm
neufer wrote:orin stepanek wrote:
Is it possible that the SMC & the LMC at one time was (were) one galaxy and that the Milky Way ripped it apart?
If so you would have to explain why the two have distinctive chemical compositions:
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31905&p=204994#p204994 wrote:
<<[Andrew J. Fox]'s team found a low amount of oxygen and sulfur along most of the stream, matching the levels in the Small Magellanic Cloud about 2 billion years ago, when the gaseous ribbon was thought to have been formed.
In a surprising twist, the team discovered a much higher level of sulfur in a region closer to the Magellanic Clouds. "We're finding a consistent amount of heavy elements in the stream until we get very close to the Magellanic Clouds, and then the heavy element levels go up," said Fox. "This inner region is very similar in composition to the Large Magellanic Cloud, suggesting it was ripped out of that galaxy more recently.">>
So the SMC is more metallic than the LMC? Would that make the stars in the SMC younger, on average, and of latter generations than those of the LMC? That would lead to the conclusion that the SMC has the greater possibility of terrestrial planets, teeny tiny rocks with carbon and real "metal" metals. Which would make it the better candidate for aliens.
APoD is so cool. It's like a random dip into a vast ocean of knowledge and mystery every day.
Something I tried to do but don't have the software to manage, could this Stream image be converted into a rotatable sphere? That would be neat.
[quote="neufer"][quote="orin stepanek"]
Is it possible that the SMC & the LMC at one time was (were) one galaxy and that the Milky Way ripped it apart? :?[/quote]
If so you would have to explain why the two have distinctive chemical compositions:
[quote=" http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31905&p=204994#p204994"]
<<[Andrew J. Fox]'s team found a low amount of oxygen and sulfur along most of the stream, matching the levels in the Small Magellanic Cloud about 2 billion years ago, when the gaseous ribbon was thought to have been formed.
In a surprising twist, the team discovered a much higher level of sulfur in a region closer to the Magellanic Clouds. "We're finding a consistent amount of heavy elements in the stream until we get very close to the Magellanic Clouds, and then the heavy element levels go up," said Fox. "This inner region is very similar in composition to the Large Magellanic Cloud, suggesting it was ripped out of that galaxy more recently.">>[/quote][/quote]
So the SMC is more metallic than the LMC? Would that make the stars in the SMC younger, on average, and of latter generations than those of the LMC? That would lead to the conclusion that the SMC has the greater possibility of terrestrial planets, teeny tiny rocks with carbon and real "metal" metals. Which would make it the better candidate for aliens.
APoD is so cool. It's like a random dip into a vast ocean of knowledge and mystery every day.
Something I tried to do but don't have the software to manage, could this Stream image be converted into a rotatable sphere? That would be neat.