Maiden Vein tangent: Milky Way tour stop 4 - Redefining the Milky Way: 2 Arms not 4?

This week's word of the week from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English is Maiden Vein which refers to the Milky Way.

Milky Way Loses Two of Four Arms
Thursday, June 05, 2008
By Jeanna Bryner


For decades, astronomers have pictured our galaxy as sporting four major, spiral arms.
But new images effectively sever two appendages, revealing the Milky Way has just two major arms.

"We're not proposing that they change the positions of the arms," said Robert Benjamin of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. "What we're proposing is a change in the emphasis of the arms."
• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Space Center.

Benjamin will present his team's results Wednesday here at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
The results are among a handful of presentations at the meeting to paint an evolving picture of our galactic home base.

Read the rest here.

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.