Scientists Have Found a Star Forming Structure in the Milky Way and It’s Moving

Amaze Lab

The Radcliffe Wave has been a mystery to scientists since it was discovered back in 2020. It’s a convergence of star forming gas and now experts say it’s moving.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:03 This is what is called the Red Cliff Wave,

00:06 and it's been a mystery to scientists since it was discovered back in 2020.

00:10 The whole thing stretches an enormous 9,000 light-years,

00:13 but it resides in the Milky Way, just 500 light-years from our solar system.

00:17 So what is it?

00:18 Well, it's a convergence of star-forming gas,

00:20 which is in and of itself pretty remarkable.

00:22 But more recently, they realized that it actually looks more like this,

00:26 a moving structure oscillating like a proper wave.

00:29 This all comes after recent improvements to 3D maps of our galaxy,

00:32 and they might actually have an idea of why it is moving as well.

00:35 The researchers say that the explanation is pretty simple,

00:38 and that it's being pulled on by gravitational interactions with other matter around it,

00:42 a far cry from the initial possibility of dark matter causing the structure to undulate in such a way.

00:47 It's even possible, the physicists say,

00:49 that the stars that went supernova before the Milky Way took their place

00:53 may have even formed within the Red Cliff Wave.

00:55 Now the question remains,

00:57 what caused this star-forming wave to appear in the first place?

01:01 (upbeat music)

01:03 (light music)

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