Scientists discover what the Milky Way weighs

[Judi Lynn]

Most accurate measurement yet includes stars, dust, gas, planets and black hole

Ian Sample Science editor

@iansample
Thu 7 Mar 2019 13.31 EST

Astronomers have hauled the Milky Way on to a cosmic scale of sorts, and found that our galaxy has as much mass as 1.5tn suns, give or take a few.

The measurement, the most accurate yet, covers all the stars and planets, dust and gas, and the supermassive black hole that sits at the centre. It alone comes in at 4m times more massive than the sun.

“This is absolutely everything there is in the Milky Way,” said Laura Watkins, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory headquarters at Garching in Germany. “Knowing its total mass will help us understand the galaxy better.”

Scientists have sought to weigh the Milky Way for decades. Previous estimates have ranged wildly from 500bn to 3tn suns. The latest estimate is in the middle of that range, and translates into about 3,000 trillion trillion trillion tonnes.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/07/scientists-milky-way-weighs-galaxy-hubble-nasa

[TexasTowelie]

1. After the whole galaxy stepped off the scale a change in diet was recommended

so that it becomes the 2% low-fat Milky Way.

[PJMcK]

2. Sweet! (n/t)