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The Question
(Submitted February 14, 1998)
I heard on the news tonight that a dark matter galaxy recently collided with
the milky way. And that astronomers aren't worried because it has previously
happened ten times. I can't find any more information about this anywhere on
the Web. My astronomy knowledge is somewhat limited. I am not a student, I
am a screenwriter.
The Answer
The announcement of a small galaxy colliding with ours was
made by astronomer Rosemary Wyse at the annual meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science in Philadelphia
in February.
The dwarf galaxy is not a "dark matter" galaxy, but rather
the dark matter mixed in with the rest of the material in the dwarf
galaxy appears to be holding it together under the gravitational
tidal forces exerted by our galaxy. The proximity of this dwarf
galaxy, however, will allow astronomers to better study the nature
of dark matter.
Try
http://www.seds.org/messier/more/SagdEg.html
for a description of the Saggitarius Dwarf in more details.
Jim Lochner
for Ask an Astrophysicist
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