For more astronomy lists, read our 17 facts about astronomy and space , 10 greatest comets of recent times , 9 mind-blowing facts about the Universe , and our guide to the weirdest stars in the Universe. Ever wondered how the Milky Way got its name? Astronomers have found the spectroscopic fingerprint of alcohol molecules in space, but milk? Maybe Greek mythology is to blame. However, given the fact that the same name is being used in so many languages, its origin may be much older. Today, we know that the Milky Way is just the projection of our home galaxy on the sky, as seen from our vantage point at the edge of one of the spiral arms.
Next time you read about intergalactic space, or about active galactic nuclei, spare a thought for little Heracles. Did you know that the Milky Way is predicted to collide with its cosmic neighbour the Andromeda Galaxy in the future? Find out more in our guide to the Andromeda-Milky Way collision. Luckily, distant suns do not crash onto our tiny planet. As a result, air molecules are heated up and start to glow. Still, all stars in the universe give off light and heat, just like a giant fire.
In the s, physicists discovered the energy source of the stars: nuclei of light elements like hydrogen are fused into heavier ones. Energy is released as a by-product. But the clever kids are right.
Nucleosynthesis referring to the production of new elements is a much better term. In space, no one can hear you scream. Even the explosive origin of the universe was a quiet affair, as far as audible sound goes. It stuck. However, by the late s it became clear that this is not electromagnetic radiation at all like X-rays or gamma rays , but a cosmic buckshot of energetic particles, mostly electrons and protons, accelerated in supernova shocks and other explosive events.
The erroneous label was never replaced. Giants are huge; dwarfs are tiny. Not in astrophysics, though. No, it has nothing to do with the candy bar. Like many words we use today, the English name of our galaxy is derived from its Latin name: Via Lactea. As baby Heracles was having his meal, Hera woke up suddenly and pushed him away, resulting in a few drops of spilt milk. The drops created the galaxy that is now known as the Milky Way. The sky was the shell of the egg, and the Earth as we know it was flat.
Lintukoto was a warm region where birds migrated during the winter. The band of light that the Greeks thought of as milk was, according to the Finns, the path that the birds took on their way to Lintukoto. Armenia has a different idea about the Milky Way. To get there, he fled across the Heavens and dropped some straw on the way, making the Milky Way. It took thousands of years for us to understand the nature of what we were looking at. One important early observation, the library adds, was from the noted astronomer Galileo Galilei.
In his volume Sidereus Nuncius , Galileo said his observations showed the Milky Way was not a uniform band, but had certain pockets with more star densities. But the true nature of the galaxy eluded us for some time yet.
Other early observations: the stars were a part of our Solar System Thomas Wainwright, — a claim that was later shown as erroneous and that the stars appeared to be denser on one side of the band than the other William and John Herschel, in the late s.
It took until the 20th century for astronomers to figure out that the Milky Way is just one of a large number of galaxies in the sky.
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