Sign in / up

back to article Does my star look big in this? Milky Way 50 per cent fatter than expected

The Milky Way galaxy could be up to 50 per cent wider than the previously estimated – a whopping 150,000 light years across, potentially – according to boffins. "In essence, what we found is that the disk of the Milky Way isn't just a disk of stars in a flat plane: it's corrugated," said Heidi Newberg, professor of physics, …

COMMENTS

Post your comment
House rules Send corrections
Add to 'My topics' unstar *
  1. RISC OS
    Joke

    Fatter than expected...

    ...like women on dating sites when you eventually meet ;)

    0 3 Reply
    1. Grikath
      Reply Icon
      Devil

      Re: Fatter than expected...

      Nooo... Their picture is correct.. They just met more mass on the way.

      7 0 Reply
    2. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Fatter than expected...

      Only the women?

      9 0 Reply
      1. RISC OS
        Reply Icon

        Re: Fatter than expected...

        As far as I know, I don't meet men ;)

        2 0 Reply
        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: Fatter than expected...

          Online Higgs Bottoms dating?

          0 0 Reply
  2. Chris G

    Galaxy, Ripple. Milky Way

    Mmm chocolatey!

    8 0 Reply
  3. Mage Silver badge
    Alien

    50% more members in the Galactic Council

    Except no-one has invited us.

    0 0 Reply
    1. Mark 85
      Reply Icon

      Would you invite us? Then again, I hold to the Groucho philosophy: "I'd never join a club that would have me as a member.".

      5 0 Reply
    2. Allan George Dyer
      Reply Icon

      Take an interest in local affairs...

      All you have to do is go down to the local council offices in Alpha Centuri and fill in the Voter Registration Form.

      6 0 Reply
  4. Steven Roper

    So if our glalaxy is 1.5x bigger than we thought

    does this mean we're bigger than the Andromeda Galaxy now?

    0 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So if our glalaxy is 1.5x bigger than we thought

      "We", puny human? When you pay you dues to the Federation perhaps you can talk about "we".

      1 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So if our glalaxy is 1.5x bigger than we thought

        Oh no, another tax??

        0 0 Reply
  5. Bonce

    I'm having trouble visualising the scale of this thing

    How many football fields is it?

    0 0 Reply
    1. Ben Bonsall
      Reply Icon

      Re: I'm having trouble visualising the scale of this thing

      Depends. It's exactly the size of one standard Galactipool table though.

      1 0 Reply
  6. EddieD

    Bugger.

    I'm going to have to re-do my version of "The Universe Song" - there's no way I can replace "it's one hundred thousand light years side to side" with "it's one hundred and fifty thousand...."

    Eric Idle will be fuming.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq4uCWtQE24

    4 0 Reply
  7. shraap
    Thumb Up

    *applause*

    Nice one for the Macc Lads reference in the strapline :)

    0 0 Reply
    1. AbelSoul
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Re: *applause*

      You think you're one of the Macc Lads?

      You're too f*cking tight.

      I've spilt more ale down me waistcoat,

      Than you've supped the night.

      0 0 Reply
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here's hoping the apparent shape of the milky way appears to be a 'cock and balls' from the Andromeda galaxy if they are looking this way. I've never liked them.

    2 0 Reply
  9. Little Mouse

    Confused

    Is it longer, wider, deeper, thicker or higher?

    1 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Confused

      Depends whether we're talking about the matter that interacts with the EM field, the dark matter or the dark energy.

      It's not higher, though. There is not enough tetrahydrocannabinol for that.

      0 0 Reply

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

Forgotten password ?

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon