Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Searching for Conformity Across Cosmic Time with Local Group and Local Volume Star Formation Histories

Conformity denotes the correlation of properties between pairs of galaxies as a function of separation. Correlations between properties such as the star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, and specific star formation rate (sSFR) have implications for the impact of environment upon galaxy formation and evolution. Conformity between primary galaxies and satellites within the same dark matter halo has been well documented in simulations and observations. However, the existence of conformity at greater distances—known as two-halo conformity—remains uncertain. We investigate whether galaxies in the Local Volume to a distance of 4 Mpc show conformity by examining the SFR, sSFR, stellar mass, and quenched fraction as a function of physical separation. Making use of the star formation histories of these galaxies, we then extend this analysis back in time to offer the first probe of conformity inside our past light cone. At the present day, we find that the stellar mass or sSFR of a galaxy correlates with the median SFR of neighboring galaxies at a separation of 2–3 Mpc. At a lookback time of 1 Gyr, we find a correlation with the quenched fraction of neighboring galaxies, again at a 2–3 Mpc separation. These signals of conformity likely arise from the differences between the recent star formation histories of Local Group dwarf galaxies and those outside the Local Group. As current and future missions including JWST, Rubin, and Roman expand the sample of Local Volume galaxies, tests of conformity using star formation histories will provide an important tool for exploring spatiotemporal correlations between galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Preferential Growth Channel for Supermassive Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies at z ≲ 2

The assembly of stellar and supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass in elliptical galaxies since z ~ 1 can help to diagnose the origins of locally observed correlations between SMBH mass and stellar mass. We therefore construct three samples of elliptical galaxies, one at z ~ 0 and two at 0.7 ≲ z ≲ 2.5, and quantify their relative positions in the M BH -M * plane. Using a Bayesian analysis framework, we find evidence for translational offsets in both stellar mass and SMBH mass between the local sample and both higher-redshift samples. The offsets in stellar mass are small, and consistent with measurement bias, but the offsets in SMBH mass are much larger, reaching a factor of 7 between z ~ 1 and z ~ 0. The magnitude of the SMBH offset may also depend on redshift, reaching a factor of ~20 at z ~ 2. The result is robust against variation in the high- and low-redshift samples and changes in the analysis approach. The magnitude and redshift evolution of the offset are challenging to explain in terms of selection and measurement biases. We conclude that either there is a physical mechanism that preferentially grows SMBHs in elliptical galaxies at z ≲ 2, or that selection and measurement biases are both underestimated, and depend on redshift.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Galaxy Populations in Groups and Clusters: Evidence for a Characteristic Stellar Mass Scale at M * ~ 10 9.5 M ⊙

We use the DR9 of the DESI legacy imaging survey and SDSS galaxy groups to measure the conditional luminosity function (CLF) for groups with halo mass Mh ≥ 10 12 M ⊙ and redshift 0.01 ≤ z ≤ 0.08, down to a limiting r-band magnitude of M r = –10 to –12. For given halo masses we measure the CLF for the total populations and for the red and blue populations classified using the (g – z) color. We find a clear faint-end upturn in the CLF of red satellites, with a slope α ≈ –1.8, which is almost independent of halo mass. This faint-end upturn is not seen for the blue and total populations. Our stellar population synthesis modeling shows that (g – z) provides a clean red/blue division and that red group galaxies defined by (g – z) are all dominated by old stellar populations. The fraction of old galaxies as a function of galaxy luminosity shows a minimum at M r ~ –18, corresponding to M * ~ 10 9.5 M ⊙ . This scale is independent of halo mass and is comparable to the characteristic luminosity at which galaxies show a dichotomy in surface brightness and size, suggesting that the dichotomy in the old fraction and in galaxy structure may have a common origin. The rising of the old fraction at the faint end for Milky Way (MW)–sized halos is in good agreement with the quenched fraction measured for the MW/M31 system and from the ELVES survey. We discuss the implications of our results for the formation and evolution of low-mass galaxies and for the stellar mass functions of low-mass galaxies to be observed at high redshift.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multiwavelength Observations of a New Redback Millisecond Pulsar 4FGL J1910.7-5320

We present the study of multiwavelength observations of an unidentified Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) source, 4FGL J1910.7-5320, a new candidate redback millisecond pulsar binary. In the 4FGL 95% error region of 4FGL J1910.7-5320, we find a possible binary with a 8.36 hr orbital period from the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey, confirmed by optical spectroscopy using the SOAR telescope. This optical source was recently independently discovered as a redback pulsar by the TRAPUM project, confirming our prediction. We fit the optical spectral energy distributions of 4FGL J1910.7-5320 with a blackbody model, inferring a maximum distance of 4.1 kpc by assuming that the companion fills its Roche lobe with a radius of R = 0.7 R ⊙ . Using a 12.6 ks Chandra X-ray observation, we identified an X-ray counterpart for 4FGL J1910.7-5320, with a spectrum that can be described by an absorbed power law with a photon index of 1.0 ± 0.4. The spectrally hard X-ray emission shows tentative evidence for orbital variability. Using more than 12 yr of Fermi-LAT data, we refined the position of the γ-ray source, and the optical candidate still lies within the 68% positional error circle. In addition to 4FGL J1910.7-5320, we find a variable optical source with a periodic signal of 4.28 hr inside the 4FGL catalog 95% error region of another unidentified Fermi source, 4FGL J2029.5-4237. However, the γ-ray source does not have a significant X-ray counterpart in an 11.7 ks Chandra observation, with a 3σ flux upper limit of 2.4 × 10 -14 erg cm -2 s -1 (0.3–7 keV). Moreover, the optical source is outside our updated Fermi-LAT 95% error circle. These observational facts all suggest that this new redback millisecond pulsar powers the gamma-ray source 4FGL J1910.7-5320 while 4FGL J2029.5-4237 is unlikely the γ-ray counterpart to the 4.28 hr variable.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Bimodal Absorption System Imaging Campaign (BASIC). I. A Dual Population of Low-metallicity Absorbers at z < 1

The bimodal absorption system imaging campaign (BASIC) aims to characterize the galaxy environments of a sample of 36 H I-selected partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs) and Lyman limit systems (LLSs) in 23 QSO fields at z ≲ 1. These pLLSs/LLSs provide a unique sample of absorbers with unbiased and well-constrained metallicities, allowing us to explore the origins of metal-rich and low-metallicity circumgalactic medium (CGM) at z < 1. Here we present Keck/KCWI and Very Large Telescope/MUSE observations of 11 of these QSO fields (19 pLLSs) that we combine with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging to identify and characterize the absorber-associated galaxies at 0.16 ≲ z ≲ 0.84. We find 23 unique absorber-associated galaxies, with an average of one associated galaxy per absorber. For seven absorbers, all with <10% solar metallicities, we find no associated galaxies with logM * ≳ 9.0 within ρ/R vir and |Δv|/v esc ≤ 1.5 with respect to the absorber. We do not find any strong correlations between the metallicities or H I column densities of the gas and most of the galaxy properties, except for the stellar mass of the galaxies: the low-metallicity ([X/H] ≤ –1.4) systems have a probability of $0.39_{–0.15}^{+0.16}$ for having a host galaxy with logM * ≥ 9.0 within ρ/R vir ≤ 1.5, while the higher metallicity absorbers have a probability of $0.78_{–0.13}^{+0.10}$. This implies metal-enriched pLLSs/LLSs at z < 1 are typically associated with the CGM of galaxies with logM * > 9.0, whereas low-metallicity pLLSs/LLSs are found in more diverse locations, with one population arising in the CGM of galaxies and another more broadly distributed in overdense regions of the universe. Using absorbers not associated with galaxies, we estimate the unweighted geometric mean metallicity of the intergalactic medium to be [X/H] ≲ –2.1 at z < 1, which is lower than previously estimated.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Using Host Galaxy Photometric Redshifts to Improve Cosmological Constraints with Type Ia Supernovae in the LSST Era

We perform a rigorous cosmology analysis on simulated Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and evaluate the improvement from including photometric host galaxy redshifts compared to using only the "z spec " subset with spectroscopic redshifts from the host or SN. We use the Deep Drilling Fields (~50 deg 2 ) from the Photometric LSST Astronomical Time-Series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC) in combination with a low-z sample based on Data Challenge2. The analysis includes light-curve fitting to standardize the SN brightness, a high-statistics simulation to obtain a bias-corrected Hubble diagram, a statistical+systematics covariance matrix including calibration and photo-z uncertainties, and cosmology fitting with a prior from the cosmic microwave background. Compared to using the z spec subset, including events with SN+host photo-z results in (i) more precise distances for z > 0.5, (ii) a Hubble diagram that extends 0.3 further in redshift, and (iii) a 50% increase in the Dark Energy Task Force figure of merit (FoM) based on the w 0 w a CDM model. Analyzing 25 simulated data samples, the average bias on w 0 and w a is consistent with zero. The host photo-z systematic of 0.01 reduces FoM by only 2% because (i) most z < 0.5 events are in the z spec subset, (ii) the combined SN+host photo-z has ×2 smaller bias, and (iii) the anticorrelation between fitted redshift and color self-corrects distance errors. To prepare for analyzing real data, the next SN Ia cosmology analysis with photo-zs should include non–SN Ia contamination and host galaxy misassociations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Multiwavelength Study of Active Galactic Nuclei in Post-merger Remnants

Here, we investigate the role of galaxy mergers in triggering active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the nearby universe. Our analysis is based on a sample of 79 post-merger remnant galaxies with deep X-ray observations from Chandra/XMM-Newton capable of detecting a low-luminosity AGN of ≥10 40.5 erg s -1 . This sample is derived from a visually classified, volume-limited sample of 807 post-mergers identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14 with log M * /M ⊙ ≥ 10.5 and 0.02 ≤ z ≤ 0.06. We find that the X-ray AGN fraction in this sample is 55.7% ± 5.6% compared to 23.6% ± 2.8% for a mass- and redshift-matched noninteracting control sample. The multiwavelength AGN fraction (identified as an AGN in one of X-ray, IR, radio or optical diagnostics) for post-mergers is 76.6% ± 4.8% compared to 39.1% ± 3.2% for controls. Thus post-mergers exhibit a high overall AGN fraction with an excess between 2 and 4 depending on the AGN diagnostics used. In addition, we find most optical, IR, and radio AGN are also identified as X-ray AGN while a large fraction of X-ray AGN are not identified in any other diagnostic. This highlights the importance of deep X-ray imaging to identify AGN. We find that the X-ray AGN fraction of post-mergers is independent of the stellar mass above log M * /M ⊙ ≥ 10.5 unlike the trend seen in control galaxies. Overall, our results show that post-merger galaxies are a good tracer of the merger–AGN connection and strongly support the theoretical expectations that mergers trigger AGN.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantifying the Agyrotropy of Proton and Electron Heating in Turbulent Plasmas

An important aspect of energy dissipation in weakly collisional plasmas is that of energy partitioning between different species (e.g., protons and electrons) and between different energy channels. Here we analyse pressure–strain interaction to quantify the fractions of isotropic compressive, gyrotropic, and nongyrotropic heating for each species. An analysis of kinetic turbulence simulations is compared and contrasted with corresponding observational results from Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission data in the magnetosheath. In assessing how protons and electrons respond to different ingredients of the pressure–strain interaction, we find that compressive heating is stronger than incompressive heating in the magnetosheath for both electrons and protons, while incompressive heating is stronger in kinetic plasma turbulence simulations. Concerning incompressive heating, the gyrotropic contribution for electrons is dominant over the nongyrotropic contribution, while for protons nongyrotropic heating is enhanced in both simulations and observations. Variations with plasma β are also discussed, and protons tend to gain more heating with increasing β.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the Hunt for the Origins of the Orphan–Chenab Stream: Detailed Element Abundances with APOGEE and Gaia

Stellar streams in the Galactic halo are useful probes of the assembly of galaxies like the Milky Way. Many tidal stellar streams that have been found in recent years are accompanied by a known progenitor globular cluster or dwarf galaxy. However, the Orphan–Chenab (OC) stream is one case where a relatively narrow stream of stars has been found without a known progenitor. In an effort to find the parent of the OC stream, we use astrometry from the early third data release of ESA's Gaia mission (Gaia EDR3) and radial velocity information from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-IV Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey to find up to 13 stars that are likely members of the OC stream. We use the APOGEE survey to study the chemical nature (for up to 10 stars) of the OC stream in the α (O, Mg, Ca, Si, Ti, and S), odd-Z (Al, K, and V), Fe-peak (Fe, Ni, Mn, Co, and Cr), and neutron-capture (Ce) elemental groups. We find that the stars that make up the OC stream are not consistent with a monometallic population and have a median metallicity of -1.92 dex with a dispersion of 0.28 dex. Our results also indicate that the α elements are depleted compared to the known Milky Way populations and that its [Mg/Al] abundance ratio is not consistent with second-generation stars from globular clusters. The detailed chemical pattern of these stars, namely the [α/Fe]–[Fe/H] plane and the metallicity distribution, indicates that the OC stream progenitor is very likely to be a dwarf spheroidal galaxy with a mass of ~10 6 M ⊙ .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Chemodynamical Analysis of Metal-rich High-eccentricity Stars in the Milky Way's Disk

We present a chemodynamical analysis of 11,562 metal-rich, high-eccentricity halo-like main-sequence stars, which have been referred to as the Splash or Splashed Disk, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope. When divided into two groups, a low-[α/Fe] population (LAP) and a high-[α/Fe] population (HAP), based on kinematics and chemistry, we find that they exhibit very distinct properties, indicative of different origins. From a detailed analysis of their orbital inclinations, we suggest that the HAP arises from a large fraction (~90%) of heated disk stars and a small fraction (~10%) of in situ stars from a starburst population, likely induced by interaction of the Milky Way with the Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus (GSE) or another early merger. The LAP comprises about half accreted stars from the GSE and half formed by the GSE-induced starburst. Our findings further imply that the Splash stars in our sample originated from at least three different mechanisms: accretion, disk heating, and a merger-induced starburst.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Proposed Lunar Measurements of r-Process Radioisotopes to Distinguish the Origin of Deep-sea 244 Pu

Abstract 244 Pu has recently been discovered in deep-sea deposits spanning the past 10 Myr, a period that includes two 60 Fe pulses from nearby supernovae. 244 Pu is among the heaviest r -process products, and we consider whether it was created in supernovae, which is disfavored by nucleosynthesis simulations, or in an earlier kilonova event that seeded the nearby interstellar medium with 244 Pu that was subsequently swept up by the supernova debris. We discuss how these possibilities can be probed by measuring 244 Pu and other r -process radioisotopes such as 129 I and 182 Hf, both in lunar regolith samples returned to Earth by missions such as Chang’e and Artemis, and in deep-sea deposits.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

CLASSY. VI. The Density, Structure, and Size of Absorption-line Outflows in Starburst Galaxies

Galaxy formation and evolution are regulated by the feedback from galactic winds. Absorption lines provide the most widely available probe of winds. However, since most data only provide information integrated along the line of sight, they do not directly constrain the radial structure of the outflows. In this paper, we present a method to directly measure the gas electron density in outflows (n e ), which in turn yields estimates of outflow cloud properties (e.g., density, volume filling factor, and sizes/masses). We also estimate the distance (r n ) from the starburst at which the observed densities are found. We focus on 22 local star-forming galaxies primarily from the COS Legacy Archive Spectroscopic SurveY (CLASSY). In half of them, we detect absorption lines from fine-structure excited transitions of Si $\tiny{II}$ (i.e., Si $\tiny{II}$ * ). We determine n e from relative column densities of Si $\tiny{II}$ and Si $\tiny{II}$ * , given Si $\tiny{II}$ * originates from collisional excitation by free electrons. We find that the derived n e correlates well with the galaxy's star formation rate per unit area. From photoionization models or assuming the outflow is in pressure equilibrium with the wind fluid, we get r n ~ 1–2r * or ~5r * , respectively, where r * is the starburst radius. Based on comparisons to theoretical models of multiphase outflows, nearly all of the outflows have cloud sizes large enough for the clouds to survive their interaction with the hot wind fluid. Most of these measurements are the first ever for galactic winds detected in absorption lines and, thus, will provide important constraints for future models of galactic winds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole

During the inspiralling of a white dwarf (WD) into an intermediate-mass black hole (~10 2-5 M ⊙ ), both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation are emitted. Once the eccentric orbit's pericenter radius approaches the tidal radius, the WD would be tidally stripped upon each pericenter passage. The accretion of this stripped mass would produce EM radiation. It is suspected that the recently discovered new types of transients, namely the quasiperiodic eruptions and the fast ultraluminous x-ray bursts, might originate from such systems. Modeling these flares requires a prediction of the amount of stripped mass from the WD and the details of the mass supply to the accretion disk. We run hydrodynamical simulations to study the orbital parameter dependence of the stripped mass. We find that our results match the analytical estimate that the stripped mass is proportional to z 5/2 , where z is the excess depth by which the WD overfills its instantaneous Roche lobe at the pericenter. The corresponding fallback rate of the stripped mass is calculated, which may be useful in interpreting the individual flaring light curve in candidate EM sources. We further calculate the long-term mass-loss evolution of a WD during its inspiral and the detectability of the GW and EM signals. The EM signal from the mass-loss stage can be easily detected: the limiting distance is ~320(M h /10 4 M ⊙ ) Mpc for the Einstein Probe. The GW signal, for space-borne detectors such as Laser Interferometer Space Antenna or TianQin, can be detected only within the Local Supercluster (~33 Mpc).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Explosion Mechanism of Core-collapse Supernovae: Role of the Si/Si–O Interface

Abstract We present a simple criterion to predict the explodability of massive stars based on the density and entropy profiles before collapse. If a pronounced density jump is present near the Si/Si–O interface, the star will likely explode. We develop a quantitative criterion by using ∼1300 1D simulations where ν -driven turbulence is included via time-dependent mixing-length theory. This criterion correctly identifies the outcome of the supernova more than 90% of the time. We also find no difference in how this criterion performs on two different sets of progenitors, evolved using two different stellar evolution codes: FRANEC and KEPLER. The explodability as a function of mass of the two sets of progenitors is very different, showing: (i) that uncertainties in the stellar evolution prescriptions influence the predictions of supernova explosions; (ii) the most important properties of the pre-collapse progenitor that influence the explodability are its density and entropy profiles. We highlight the importance that ν -driven turbulence plays in the explosion by comparing our results to previous works.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Early Light Curve of the Type Ia Supernova 2021hpr in NGC 3147: Progenitor Constraints with the Companion Interaction Model

The progenitor system of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is expected to be a close binary system consisting of a carbon/oxygen white dwarf (WD) and a nondegenerate star or another WD. Here, we present results from high-cadence monitoring observations of SN 2021hpr in a spiral galaxy, NGC 3147, and constraints on the progenitor system based on its early multicolor light-curve data. First, we classify SN 2021hpr as a normal SN Ia from its long-term photometric and spectroscopic data. More interestingly, we found a significant "early excess" in the light curve over a simple power-law ~t 2 evolution. The early light curve evolves from blue to red to blue during the first week. To explain this, we fitted the early part of the BVRI-band light curves with a two-component model consisting of ejecta–companion interaction and a simple power-law model. The early excess and its color can be explained by shock-cooling emission due to a companion star having a radius of 8.84 ± 0.58 R ⊙ . We also examined Hubble Space Telescope preexplosion images, finding no detection of a progenitor candidate, consistent with the above result. However, we could not detect signs of a significant amount of stripped mass from a nondegenerate companion star (≲0.003 M ⊙ for Hα emission). The early excess light in the multiband light curve supports a nondegenerate companion in the progenitor system of SN 2021hpr. At the same time, the nondetection of emission lines opens the door for other methods to explain this event.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effects of Magnetic Fields on Gas Dynamics and Star Formation in Nuclear Rings

Nuclear rings at the centers of barred galaxies are known to be strongly magnetized. To explore the effects of magnetic fields on star formation in these rings and nuclear gas flows, we run magnetohydrodynamic simulations in which there is a temporally constant magnetized inflow to the ring, representing a bar-driven inflow. The mass inflow rate is 1M ⊙ yr –1 , and we explore models with a range of field strength in the inflow. We adopt the TIGRESS framework developed by Kim & Ostriker to handle radiative heating and cooling, star formation, and resulting supernova (SN) feedback. We find that magnetic fields are efficiently amplified in the ring due to rotational shear and SN feedback. Within a few 100 Myr, the turbulent component Btrb in the ring saturates at ~35 μG (in rough equipartition with the turbulent kinetic energy density), while the regular component Breg exceeds 50 μG. Expanding superbubbles created by clustered SN explosions vertically drag predominantly toroidal fields from near the midplane to produce poloidal fields in high-altitude regions. The growth of magnetic fields greatly suppresses star formation at late times. Simultaneously, strong magnetic tension in the ring drives radially inward accretion flows from the ring to form a circumnuclear disk in the central region; this feature is absent in the unmagnetized model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Stellar-reddening-based Extinction Maps for Cosmological Applications

Cosmological surveys must correct their observations for the reddening of extragalactic objects by Galactic dust. Existing dust maps, however, have been found to have spatial correlations with the large-scale structure of the Universe. Errors in extinction maps can propagate systematic biases into samples of dereddened extragalactic objects and into cosmological measurements such as correlation functions between foreground lenses and background objects and the primordial non-Gaussianity parameter f NL . Emission-based maps are contaminated by the cosmic infrared background, while maps inferred from stellar reddenings suffer from imperfect removal of quasars and galaxies from stellar catalogs. Thus, stellar-reddening-based maps using catalogs without extragalactic objects offer a promising path to making dust maps with minimal correlations with large-scale structure. We present two high-latitude integrated extinction maps based on stellar reddenings, with a point-spread functions of FWHMs 6'. 1 and 15'. We employ a strict selection of catalog objects to filter out galaxies and quasars and measure the spatial correlation of our extinction maps with extragalactic structure. Our galactic extinction maps have reduced spatial correlation with large-scale structure relative to most existing stellar-reddening-based and emission-based extinction maps.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

What Does the Milky Way Look Like?

In spite of much work, the overall spiral structure morphology of the Milky Way remains somewhat uncertain. In the last two decades, accurate distance measurements have provided us with an opportunity to solve this issue. Using the precise locations of very young objects, for the first time, we propose that our galaxy has a multiple-arm morphology that consists of two-arm symmetry (the Perseus and Norma Arms) in the inner parts and that extends to the outer parts, where there are several long, irregular arms (the Centaurus, Sagittarius, Carina, Outer, and Local Arms).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗