Recently, the international scientific journal Nature Astronomy published an important research result jointly led by the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Shanghai Jiaotong University online. The research team has pioneered a new method called "motion picture" based on the Guo Shoujing Telescope (LAMOST), a national major scientific and technological infrastructure operated by the National Astronomical Observatory, and data from the Gaia satellite of the European Space Agency. This method uses samples of Cepheid variables of different ages to directly measure the precession direction and rate of a silver disk's warping. Based on this, the research team revealed that the current shape of the dark matter halo in the Milky Way is a nearly spherical flat ellipsoid. In the neighboring universe, most disc-shaped galaxies are not actually perfect disks, but exhibit a potato chip like bending state in the outer region, which astronomers call warp. The Milky Way, as a typical disc-shaped galaxy, also exhibits warping characteristics without exception. It is generally believed that the origin of warping is that the rotational plane of the outer disk material deviates from the symmetry plane of the dark matter halo surrounding it. This tilted rotating silver disk is like a spinning gyroscope, inevitably subject to precession caused by the gravitational moment exerted by the dark matter halo. However, there is significant debate over the important dynamic parameter of warp precession velocity, both in terms of direction and velocity measurement. The reason is that previous measurements relied on indirect kinematic methods, and the tracking celestial bodies used in these measurements could be affected by dynamic disturbances or heating effects, which could affect their accuracy and precision. This study utilized the 2600 young classic Cepheid variables discovered by Gaia as tracer objects for the curvature of the Milky Way, and combined LAMOST data to accurately measure the distance and age of these 2600 classic Cepheid variables. The "time animation" method was pioneered, accurately depicting the three-dimensional structure of silver discs sliced at different ages over 250 million years ago. Through the animation "projection" method, this study clearly revealed the evolution process of silver disk warping, and found that the warping precesses along the direction of counterclockwise rotation at a rate of 2 km/s/kpc (i.e. 0.12 degrees per million years). Further fine measurements show that as the distance between the Cepheid variable star sample and the center of gravity increases, the warping precession rate gradually decreases. Regardless of the origin of warping, its precession rate and direction are jointly determined by the inner disk of the Milky Way and the dark matter halo. After deducting the contribution of the inner disk of the Milky Way, the research team found that the dark matter halo currently enveloping the warped Milky Way exhibits a slightly off spherical flat ellipsoid shape (the ratio of the long and short axes of the ellipsoidal equipotential surface has a q value between 0.84 and 0.96), and currently only this shape can explain the remaining precession size of the warping. This result provides an important anchor for studying the evolution of dark matter halos in the Milky Way. The research achievement received high praise from two reviewers, who unanimously agreed that 'time animation' is a novel and highly convincing method, and for the first time accurately determines the direction and rate of precession. Huang Yang, associate professor of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences/National Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the co first author and corresponding author of this paper. Liu Jifeng, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhang Huawei, a researcher at Peking University, and Shen Juntai, a professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University, are the co corresponding authors of this paper. Feng Qikang, a graduate student at Peking University, is the co first author of this paper. The study also included other astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Normal University and Notre Dame University in the United States. (Lai Xin She)
Edit:Xiong Dafei Responsible editor:Li Xiang
Source:WHB
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