SPACE
The Radcliffe Wave is waving
Astronomers report oscillation of our giant, gaseous neighbor
IMAGE:
THE RADCLIFFE WAVE NEXT TO OUR SUN (YELLOW DOT), INSIDE A CARTOON MODEL OF THE MILKY WAY. BLUE DOTS ARE CLUSTERS OF BABY STARS. THE WHITE LINE IS A THEORETICAL MODEL BY RALF KONIETZKA AND COLLABORATORS THAT EXPLAINS THE CURRENT SHAPE AND MOTION OF THE WAVE. THE MAGENTA AND GREEN LINES SHOW HOW THE WAVE WILL MOVE IN THE FUTURE.
view moreCREDIT: RALF KONIETZKA, ALYSSA GOODMAN, AND WORLDWIDE TELESCOPE
A few years ago, astronomers uncovered one of the Milky Way’s greatest secrets: an enormous, wave-shaped chain of gaseous clouds in our sun’s backyard, giving birth to clusters of stars along the spiral arm of the galaxy we call home.
Naming this astonishing new structure the Radcliffe Wave, in honor of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, where the undulation was originally discovered, the team now reports in Nature that the Radcliffe Wave not only looks like a wave, but also moves like one – oscillating through space-time much like “the wave” moving through a stadium full of fans.
Ralf Konietzka, the paper’s lead author and Ph.D. student at Harvard’s Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, explains, “By using the motion of baby stars born in the gaseous clouds along the Radcliffe Wave, we can trace the motion of their natal gas to show that the Radcliffe Wave is actually waving.”
Back in 2018, when University of Vienna professor João Alves was a fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, he worked with Center for Astrophysics researcher Catherine Zucker – then a Ph.D. student at Harvard – and Alyssa Goodman, Robert Wheeler Willson Professor of Applied Astronomy, to map out the 3D positions of the stellar nurseries in the sun’s galactic neighborhood. By combining brand-new data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission with the data-intensive “3D Dust Mapping” technique – pioneered by Harvard professor Doug Finkbeiner and his team – they noticed a pattern emerging, leading to the discovery of the Radcliffe Wave in 2020.
“It’s the largest coherent structure that we know of, and it’s really, really close to us,” said Zucker, who describes the collaboration’s work in a related Sky and Telescope article. “It’s been there the whole time. We just didn’t know about it, because we couldn’t build these high-resolution models of the distribution of gaseous clouds near the sun, in 3D.”
The 2020 3D dust map clearly showed that the Radcliffe Wave existed, but no measurements available then were good enough to see if the wave was moving. But in 2022, using a newer release of Gaia data, Alves’ group assigned 3D motions to the young star clusters in the Radcliffe Wave. With the clusters’ positions and motions in hand, Konietzka, Goodman, Zucker and their collaborators were able to determine that the entire Radcliffe Wave is indeed waving, moving like what physicists call a "traveling wave."
A traveling wave is the same phenomenon we see in a sports stadium when people stand up and sit down in sequence to “do the wave.” Likewise, the star clusters along the Radcliffe Wave move up and down, creating a pattern that travels through our galactic backyard.
Konietzka continued, “Similar to how fans in a stadium are being pulled back to their seats by the Earth's gravity, the Radcliffe Wave oscillates due to the gravity of the Milky Way.”
Understanding the behavior of this 9,000 light year-long, gargantuan structure in our galactic backyard, just 500 light-years away from the sun at its closest point, allows researchers to now turn their attention to even more challenging questions. No one yet knows what caused the Radcliffe Wave or why it moves the way it does.
“Now we can go and test all these different theories for why the wave formed in the first place," Zucker said.
“Those theories range from explosions of massive stars, called supernovae, to out-of-galaxy disturbances, like a dwarf satellite galaxy colliding with our Milky Way”, Konietzka added.
The Nature article also includes a calculation on how much dark matter might be contributing to the gravity responsible for the wave’s motion.
"It turns out that no significant dark matter is needed to explain the motion we observe," Konietzka said. “The gravity of ordinary matter alone is enough to drive the waving of the wave."
In addition, the discovery of the oscillation raises new questions about the preponderance of these waves both across the Milky Way and other galaxies. Since the Radcliffe Wave appears to form the backbone of the nearest spiral arm in the Milky Way, the waving of the wave could imply that spiral arms of galaxies oscillate in general, making galaxies even more dynamic than previously thought.
“The question is, what caused the displacement giving rise to the waving we see?” Goodman said. “And does it happen all over the galaxy? In all galaxies? Does it happen occasionally? Does it happen all the time?”
The National Science Foundation, NASA, ESA, and the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant ISM-FLOW supported this work.
The Radcliffe Wave next to our sun (yellow dot), inside a cartoon model of the Milky Way. Blue dots are clusters of baby stars. The white line is a theoretical model by Ralf Konietzka and collaborators that explains the current shape and motion of the wave. The magenta and green lines show how the wave will move in the future.
The Radcliffe Wave next to our sun (yellow dot), inside a cartoon model of the Milky Way. Blue dots are clusters of baby stars. The white line is a theoretical model by Ralf Konietzka and collaborators that explains the current shape and motion of the wave. The magenta and green lines show how the wave will move in the future.
CREDIT
Ralf Konietzka, Alyssa Goodman, and WorldWide Telescope
JOURNAL
Nature
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Data/statistical analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
The Radcliffe Wave is Oscillating
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
20-Feb-2024
Giant Magellan Telescope expands global
science impact with Taiwanese partner
PASADENA, CA – February 20, 2024 – The Giant Magellan Telescope today welcomes Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), a distinguished Taiwanese research institute, into its international consortium. ASIAA's inclusion expands the consortium to 14 international research institutions, underscoring Giant Magellan’s significance to the global astronomy community and the consortium’s commitment to prioritizing global collaboration for the advancement of science.
“We are thrilled to welcome ASIAA into our international consortium of distinguished partners,” said Dr. Walter Massey, Board Chair of the Giant Magellan Telescope. “Together, our consortium combines worldwide science expertise and engineering acumen to create a project that benefits all walks of research relating to the universe. This collective investment in the Giant Magellan Telescope is a testament that science can transcend boundaries and bind humanity together for good.”
The astronomical research and instrumental development capabilities in Taiwan have received international recognition. ASIAA will contribute expertise in areas such as low noise and compact detector electronics, precision detector characterization technology, precision laser cutting technology, and many others. These contributions will prove invaluable once the telescope is commissioned in the early 2030s.
“ASIAA is delighted to be a part of the Giant Magellan Telescope consortium, and the Taiwanese scientific community is prepared to contribute its expertise while also benefiting from the wealth of knowledge within the consortium,” said Dr. Ue-Li Pen, the Director of ASIAA. “Joining one of the thirty-meter-class telescopes has been a long-term aspiration for Taiwanese astronomers, and Giant Magellan is considered the most suitable project for this endeavor. The collaboration between ASIAA and the Giant Magellan Telescope establishes a robust foundation for astronomical research in Taiwan, with a particular emphasis on nurturing the development of new generations in the field. We also anticipate that this project will deepen collaboration between Taiwan and the six other countries in the consortium.”
Construction of the telescope advances rapidly in the Chilean Atacama Desert and in labs around the world. Over the past year, fabrication commenced on the seventh and final primary mirror in Arizona, while manufacturing of the 39-meter-tall mount structure began in Illinois. Progress includes completion of the first of seven mirror covers in Germany, and near completion of the telescope’s first adaptive secondary mirror in France and Italy. Other advancements were made on a suite of high-resolution imagers and spectrographs in Arizona, Australia, California, Massachusetts, South Korea, and Texas.
These optical technologies will enable the Giant Magellan to boast a remarkable tenfold increase in resolution compared to the Hubble Space Telescope and deliver up to 200 times the power of today’s best telescopes. The breakthrough technologies will empower scientists worldwide, offering unparalleled insights into the evolution of the universe, the origins of chemical elements, and the discovery of life on distant exoplanets for the first time.
News of ASIAA’s inclusion into the Giant Magellan Telescope’s international consortium was celebrated by elected officials in the United States dedicated to scientific advancements, democratic values, and international partnerships.
US Senator of Arizona and former NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly emphasized how science collaborations can strengthen international relations. “Arizona has long been a leader in astronomy and optical research, and thanks to key contributions from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, the Giant Magellan Telescope will lead the way making the next generation of discoveries in astronomy,” said Senator Kelly. “We welcome the newest collaborators from Taiwan to the Giant Magellan consortium and look forward to strengthening ties between Arizona and Taiwan through our shared commitment to democracy, education, and innovation.”
US Congressman of Texas and Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Michael T. McCaul, also emphasized the significance of supporting large international research initiatives. “I’m glad our friends in Taiwan have joined this important project, which includes top-notch research institutions like Texas A&M and The University of Texas,” said Congressman McCaul. “The Giant Magellan Telescope will be a ground-breaking observatory that will expand our knowledge of the universe and enable the US to maintain its dominance in ground-based optical and infrared astronomy.”
ASIAA joins Arizona State University, Astronomy Australia Ltd., Australian National University, Carnegie Institution for Science, Harvard University, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, São Paulo Research Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Arizona, University of Chicago, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in building the Giant Magellan Telescope.
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About Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Academia Sinica is Taiwan’s national academy of sciences funded by the Presidential Office of Taiwan. Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) is one of 32 institutes and centers of Academia Sinica and is the leading astronomical institute in Taiwan. ASIAA’s mission is to conduct fundamental, groundbreaking research in theory, observation, and instrumentation for astrophysics. Research areas cover the formation and evolution of stellar and planetary systems, cosmology and galaxies, black holes and high-energy astrophysics, the solar system, and astrophysical technology. ASIAA is located on the campus of National Taiwan University at the center of the city of Taipei and is a member of several international projects, providing opportunities for our members to conduct observations or technical developments at world-leading facilities. ASIAA is a founding member of the East-Asian Core Observatory Association (EACOA) and a member of the East-Asian Observatory (EAO). To learn more, visit asiaa.sinica.edu.tw.
About Giant Magellan Telescope
The Giant Magellan Telescope is the future of space exploration from Earth. Using seven of the world’s largest mirrors, the 25.4-meter telescope will produce the most detailed images ever taken of our universe. It will uncover the cosmic mysteries of dark matter, investigate the origins of chemical elements, and verify signs of life on distant planets for the first time. Giant Magellan is the work of the GMTO Corporation, an international consortium of 14 research institutions representing Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. The telescope is under construction in Chile and anticipated to be completed in the early 2030s. The Universe Awaits™ at giantmagellan.org
GMTO CORPORATION
THE GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE IS THE WORK OF THE GMTO CORPORATION, AN INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF 14 RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS REPRESENTING AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CHILE, ISRAEL, SOUTH KOREA, TAIWAN, AND THE UNITED STATES.
Nighttime exterior telescope rendering with support site buildings in the foreground.
CREDIT
Giant Magellan Telescope – GMTO Corporation
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