{"id":35545,"date":"2023-02-27T13:48:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T13:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/?p=34524"},"modified":"2023-12-29T08:06:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T02:36:13","slug":"what-is-the-history-behind-our-milky-way-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/what-is-the-history-behind-our-milky-way-galaxy\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the History Behind Our Milky Way Galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As a kid you must have learnt that the Sun, Earth and all other planets that we see in our solar system reside in a galaxy called The Milky Way. At that age, you might not have questioned what exactly a galaxy is or how it was formed. Although, now that we\u2019ve grown up, let\u2019s try to fulfill that curiosity. Why should we limit the topic to the community of astronomers and astrophysicists, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term \u2018galaxy\u2019 comes from the ancient Greek work \u2018gala\u2019. It means a stream of milk flowing through the sky. This was a reference<\/a> to what sub Saharan African natives gazed upon at night in the sky. The Milky Way galaxy is a collection of stars, cosmic dust, planets, asteroids and many other interstellar entities. It is a spiral galaxy and has been continuously expanding like the rest of the universe since its creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But how old is the Milky Way galaxy? What was the reason behind its creation? These are some questions that a lot of people have in their minds. Now let\u2019s start discovering the secrets of this galaxy and ultimately start to find the answer to such questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When astronomers looked back in time, they found out that the Milky Way galaxy was formed about 14 billion years ago when clouds of gasses after the inception of universe started to come together under the action of gravity. As the gasses cooled down, they started to turn into different states and form different celestial objects like stars. During this time, everything in our galaxy was randomly floating in the universe and there was no sign of the solar system either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With time, two structures, a spherical \u2018halo\u2019 and then a dense bright disk appeared in the cosmos after the universe cooled down followed by accumulation of gasses and particles. Now you might be thinking how did these gasses change their state and form such a huge galaxy? Well that answer can only be obtained through chemistry and the study of various chemical reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of physics, the change of states happened due to transfer of heat and other thermodynamic processes. In astronomical terms, a million years is just like a few minutes and that is why the early days that we talk about here are actually millions and millions of years that the Milky Way galaxy took to finally take a shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talking about the history of the Milky Way galaxy, one can\u2019t help but wonder if there are other planets out there that support life? The Milky Way is certainly massive. It’s a statistical improbability to imagine that we are the only ones out here. Luckily, there are a lot of exoplanets out there that we can study, which could be the key to finding life beyond our own solar system. Learn more about these fascinating exoplanets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe History of the Milky Way Galaxy: To The Early Days<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Formation<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n