Njia Nyeupe

Njia nyeupe jinsi inavyoonekana usiku (Mistari mekundu inaonyesha mipaka yake; sehemu ya chini imefichwa na mti)

Galaksi yetu jinsi inaaminiwa kuonekana vile kama tunaiangalia kutoka juu; picha ya galaksi ya mbali yenye mikono miwili ya parafujo

Njia Nyeupe (ing. Milky Way), pia majarra au "mkokoto wa kondoo za Sumaili" ni jina la kanda ya nyota nyingi inayoonekana wakati wa usiku angani kama wingu nyeupe inayong`aa.

Hali halisi hii ni jinsi tunavyoona galaksi yetu ambamo jua letu na mfumo wake ni sehemu yake.

Galaksi yetu imekadiriwa kuwa na nyota zaidi ya 300,000,000,000. Umbo lake unafanana na kisahani chenye umbo la parafujo. Kipenyo cha kisahani hiki ni miaka ya nuru 100,000 ikiwa na unene wa miaka ya nuru 3,000. Galaksi ya jirani iliyo karibu angani inaitwa Andromeda na ina umbali wa miaka ya nuru milioni 2.5 .

Kuonekana kwa Njia Nyeupe kutoka duniani

Nyota karibu zote tunazoona kwa macho yetu wakati wa usiku ni sehemu za Njia Nyeupe. Wakati wa giza tunaweza kuona kati ya nyota 3,000 hadi 5,000 kwa macho yetu bila msaada wa darubini. Isipokuwa sayari za jua letu na kometi (zinazoonekana mara chache tu) na galaksi ya Andromeda (inayoonekana kama nyota 1) nyota zote ni majua kama jua letu. Si rahisi kuona nyota nyingi tukiwa mjini penye nuru nyingi wakati wa usiku kwa sababu mwanga wa taa za mjini unaakisiwa katika angahewa na kuleta matata ya kuona mwanga kutoka nje ya angahewa.

Nyota zilizo nyingi za Njia Nyeupe hatuwezi kuziona wala kubainisha kwa hiyo zinatokea machoni kama ukungu mweupe tu.

Uwezo wetu kuona nyota nyingi umepungukiwa na kuwepo kwa mavumbi ya kinyota kati ya mahali petu na kitovu cha galaksi.

Muundo

Galaksi yetu ina umbo la parafujo (spirali) ya kisahani. Mahali petu pamoja na jua pako kando kiasi ndani ya uwiano wa kisahani hiki. Tuko takriban 2/3 ya umbali wa kipenyo kutoka kitovu cha kisahani.

Ikitazamiwa kutoka juu galaksi yetu ina umbo la parafujo lenye mikono mbalimbali. Picha hii tumepata kutokana na kuangalia galaksi za mbali angani zinazoonekana kutoka juu na parafujo inaonekana.

Soma pia

• Thorsten Dambeck in Sky and Telescope, "Gaia's Mission to the Milky Way", Machi 2008, p. 36–39.
• Cristina Chiappini, The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way, American Scientist, November/December 2001, pp. 506-515

Viungo vya Nje

Wikimedia Commons ina media kuhusu:

Njia Nyeupe

• The Milky Way Galaxy from An Atlas of the Universe
• Basic Milky Way plan map, including spiral arms and the Orion spur
• A 3D map of the Milky Way Galaxy
• Chromoscope Tools to Explore the known Milky Way
• Milky Way – IRAS (infrared) survey wikisky.org
• Milky Way – H-Alpha survey wikisky.org
• Interactive full screen Silverlight map of the Milky Way
• Running Rings Around the Galaxy Spitzer Space Telescope News
• The Milky Way Galaxy, SEDS Messier pages
• MultiWavelength Milky Way, NASA site with images and VRML models
• Milky Way Explorer, detailed images in infrared with radio, microwave and hydrogen-alpha as well
• The Milky Way at the Astro-Photography Site Of Mister T. Yoshida.
• Widefield Image of the Summer Milky Way
• Proposed Ring around the Milky Way
• Milky Way spiral gets an extra arm, New Scientist.com
• Possible New Milky Way Spiral Arm, Sky and Telescope.com
• The Milky Way spiral arms and a possible climate connection
• Galactic center mosaic via sun-orbiting Spitzer infrared telescope
• Milky Way Plan Views, The University of Calgary Radio Astronomy Laboratory
• Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy, Scientific American Magazine (Januari 2004 Issue)
• Deriving The Shape Of The Galactic Stellar Disc, SkyNightly (17 Machi 2006)
• Digital Sky LLC, Digital Sky's Milky Way Panorama and other images
• A new view of the Milky Way galaxy obtained by the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE).
• Image of Milky Way galaxy arms, Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
• The 1920 Shapley – Curtis Debate on the size of the Milky Way
• Milky Way Voyage – India's First & Largest Star Party
• Astronomy Picture of the Day:
  • Composite image of the Milky Way
  • Milky Way image with highlights
  • Milky Way Illustrated
  • Barred Spiral Milky Way (Illustrated)
  • Radioactive Clouds in the Milky Way
  • Milky Way Molecule Map
  • The Milky Way's Gamma-Ray Halo
• Moving Milkyway seen from Teneriffe without any lightpollution
• Multi-Gigapixel Infrared Milky Way A zoomable, annotated version of the Spitzer Space Telescope GLIMPSE survey.
• Animated tour of the Milky Way, University of Glamorgan