UK scientists produce most detailed map of the Milky Way

[Blackleaf]

This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our Milky Way galaxy over the next 400,000 years based on measurements and projections from the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft.. (Image credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. Acknowledgement: A. Brown, S. Jordan, T. Roegiers, X. Luri, E. Masana, T. Prusti and A. Moitinho.)

 

[Dexter Sinister]

"This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our Milky Way galaxy..."

That's within 326 light years of the solar system, not the galaxy. 326 light years is a pretty small distance on the galactic scale.

 

[Blackleaf]

"This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our Milky Way galaxy..."

That's within 326 light years of the solar system, not the galaxy. 326 light years is a pretty small distance on the galactic scale.

No, it looks like the galaxy to me.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Yes, the galaxy is in the picture alright, but the original news source is clear, it's 40,000 stars within 326 light years of the sun. At our location the galactic disk is about 1000 light years thick, those are the tracks of just the stars within our galactic neighbourhood, with an image of the galaxy as the backdrop.

 

[Blackleaf]

Yes, the galaxy is in the picture alright, but the original news source is clear, it's 40,000 stars within 326 light years of the sun. At our location the galactic disk is about 1000 light years thick, those are the tracks of just the stars within our galactic neighbourhood, with an image of the galaxy as the backdrop.

Well that's what I copied and then pasted into here. That's what the caption under the image says as it does on numerous websites.

 

[Blackleaf]

Oh, I see. Looks like they've corrected it.

On the Google website listing for the website I got it from after Googling "40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our milky way" it says:

The Milky Way and beyond: Scientists publish new data ...
1 day ago — This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our Milky Way ...

but then on the website itself, it NOW says:

This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our solar system over the next 400,000 years based on measurements and projections from the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft. (Image credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. Acknowledgement: A. Brown, S. Jordan, T. Roegiers, X. Luri, E. Masana, T. Prusti and A. Moitinho.)

So it looks like they've corrected it, the ponces.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Well, as long as they get it right eventually... A lot of science reporting is done by people who don't really know much about the science they're writing about, though I'd have expected better of space.com.

 

[Blackleaf]

Well, as long as they get it right eventually... A lot of science reporting is done by people who don't really know much about the science they're writing about, though I'd have expected better of space.com.

Journalists should do their research properly before writing.