Radio telescopes have provided scientists with incredible information about our own galaxy, as well as those around us. While researchers understand a great deal of galaxies far away, gaps remain in the knowledge about our own, the Milky Way – specifically, how global star formation works in our own backyard, and how many stars our galaxy is making per year.
“We have that information about other galaxies, just not our own,” said Loren Anderson, assistant professor of physics at West Virginia University.
“We’re stuck inside of our galaxy, so it’s difficult to get a three-dimensional view of it, like we can others,” he said.
Anderson has been awarded $363,734 by the National Science Foundation to create a three-dimensional map that will shed light on star formation in our galaxy.
Published by Newswise. See more at: http://newswise.com/articles/physics-professor-using-3-d-map-of-the-milky-way-to-determine-its-star-formation-rate