Milky Way may have a huge hidden neighbour....

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... hbour.html ^ | August 13th, 2009

[TaraP]

A LARGE satellite galaxy may be lurking, hidden from view, next door to our own. Sukanya Chakrabarti and Leo Blitz of the University of California, Berkeley, suspected that the gravity of a nearby galaxy was causing perturbations that have been observed in gas on the fringes of the Milky Way. "We did a large range of simulations where we varied the mass of the perturber and the distance of closest approach," says Chakrabarti. In the best-fitting simulation, the unseen galaxy has about 1 per cent of the Milky Way's mass, or 10 billion times the mass of the sun. That's a lot. It means the object has roughly the same mass as the Milky Way's brightest satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Right now, says Chakrabarti, the galaxy is roughly 300,000 light years away from us - about twice as far away as the LMC. But the simulations suggest it follows a highly elongated elliptical path, and about 300 million years ago it swept through our own galaxy just 16,000 light years from the galactic centre - closer in than Earth - disturbing the Milky Way's outskirts as it went.

[paulycy]

The old U.S. Mars bar, the one with white nougat and almonds, has been re-packaged as Snickers with Almonds, same candy bar. It's not the same Mars bar sold in the U.K., I understand.

That makes sense, I guess. We have a running family joke, both in VA and in southern calif, that if anyone finds a Mars Bar they should buy one and send it to me. So far no one has so I assumed they didn't make them anymore, at least in the US.

[paulycy]

Now I have to start looking :)

Good luck!

[Talisker]

It's impossible to hide a galaxy.

No, no, no--just put it in a marble tied around your cat's neck.

And carry a towel.

[Red Badger]

here it is.................

[MozarkDawg]

I used to LOVE that Mars bar, it was my favorite, I was so disappointed when I couldn't get them any more. Imagine my surprise when the hub decides to try a Snickers with Almonds awhile ago, he opens the wrapper, takes a bite and I see that white nougat!! Yippee!!

(Silly, I know, but you gotta take what pleasures in life you can find!)

[Red Badger]

Yes, they are on sale everywhere.....................You don’t get out much, do you?.........

[Fledermaus]

I blame universal warming.

[paulycy]

(Silly, I know, but you gotta take what pleasures in life you can find!)

Not silly!

When I was a kid I stopped eating Mars Bars because they were so "ordinary." Now I'm all grown up and I can't find one on either coast and I WANT MY MARS BAR! :0)

[colorado tanker]

Kay: Arquillian battle rules, kid: first we get an ultimatum, then a warning shot, then we have a galactic standard week to respond.
Jay: A galactic standard week? How the hell long is that?
Kay: One hour.
Jay: One hour... then what?
[the message translation flashes across the screen: "MIB, DELIVER THE GALAXY OR EARTH WILL BE DESTROYED."]
Jay: Oh, now that's bullshit.
[the message adds, "SORRY." The countdown begins]

[Brookhaven]

I hope they name it the cookie galaxy, because nothing goes better with mily way galaxy than cookie galaxy.

[PIF]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327213.500-milky-way-may-have-a-huge-hidden-neighbour.html

[razorback-bert]

It is hiding because it has seen OdumbO’s health plan.

[adorno]

There was a theory floating around I read about recently that the Earth is actually part of a small galaxy or cluster of stars that collided with the Milky Way Galaxy.

Some 250-300 million years ago, there was a mass extinction of dinosaurs and other life on earth. That kind of extinction occurs cyclically on our planet every 250-300 million years. My belief, which I've expressed in the past, is that, every 300 million years or so, out planetary system (including earth, of course), in its orbital path around the galaxy, encounters a dangerous region in our galaxy which disturbs all life on our planet. We will have that encounter again, but, personally, I'm not worried. But, I'll leave a warning note to my great, great, great... great, great, great..... grandchildren.

[Tanniker Smith]

Wish my neighbor was unseen, hidden from view.


"Hey, Tann! Howzit it goin'? Where you off to? Hey, see your pool is lookin' pretty good. And so are those tomatoes. Hey, speakin' of tomatoes, have you seen . . . "

[Zeppo]

Does it live in a hut?

Sorry, wrong thread...

[MozarkDawg]

If you can't find 'em at your local grocery or convenience store, I know you can buy a box of Snickers Almond through Amazon (careful, you may be charged extra for warm weather shipping):

Snickers Almond

[paulycy]

I know you can buy a box of Snickers Almond through Amazon

Thanks for this. I just learned about the Snickers Almond this afternoon on this thread so I'll look for those locally.

But I sure learned a lot about Mars Bars today. LOL!

[Prodigal Son]

Can you even buy Mars bars anymore?

Are you kidding? It's like the national candy bar of Scotland. Here, you can even get a 'deep-fried mars bar' and I'm not joking.

[I see my hands]

To: TaraP; Aardvark111; ACK ACK; Al Koa; Angel of Beth; another_bot_for_W; AppleEars; axe2grin...

I see my hands' True Life Trivia
Low Volume Ping List
On? Off? Private Reply Please

Per popular demand I've registered at Cabelas but, again, really not necessary.
Ha! Good eye, Ms_Anne_Thrope! Yes that was me on TV on TV. In case others blinked: I was on some video playing on a TV on the counter in a diner in Cold Foot, Alaska. This was aired on an episode of the reality series Ice Road Truckers. What a coincidence!

I once worked at the New England Confectionary Company (NECCO) in Cambridge Mass. A 200 pound metal bin of candy fell off a dolly and onto my big toe.. I recovered quickly and fully. That was many years ago. Rest assured that all is well.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Why not?

The Milky Way has 12 other satellite galaxies within half a million light years.