Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Thanks Robert. I would be interested in the latest models of what our Milky Way Galaxy looks like.
Greg.
|
Greg,
Another obvious thing seems to be the lack of high-contrast dark nebulae in this section of the Milky Way.....or at least this seems to be the case when the band of the Milky Way here is shown at the level of contrast shown in your displayed image.
One fact of astrophysics can be expressed in the following homely way:
" No dark nebulae = no star formation"
The dust in dark nebs is mainly a tracer for the real material that is there.....the dense & cold Molecular Hydrogen Gas from which all stars are thought to form.
In fact, the actual (numerical) quantity of extinction in a dark nebula is a very good indicator of how much gas there is in the nebula!
From this observation and inference, one can conclude that the arm or inter-arm feature near Orion may well be quiescent (not forming a lot of stars, at present)
cheers, Robert
P.S. I am mainly referring to the section of the Milky Way band near Taurus and Monoceros and Gemini & Canis Major. There are some dark nebs here, but they are not as prominent as those in the Sagittarius-Carina Milky Way.
( I am not referring to the Orion star-forming complex itself.)
All in all, the section of Milky Way in your image looks
very very different from the Aquila to Carina section of the Milky Way.