The Astrology of Space - Matrix Software

The Astrology of Space
(including the double star cluster in Perseus) passes
about 6,000 light years beyond us (the Perseus arm)
and an inner arm (Sagittarius arm) has been
discovered between the Galactic Center and us.
Much of this research has been made possible
through radio astronomy and in particular studies of
the 21-cm line of emission in interstellar hydrogen. A
rough idea as to the probable spiral arm structure as
astronomers see it today is given in the diagram
above. Keep in mind that this structure is rotating
toward the right (clockwise), so that the tilt of the arms
to the radius vector from the center indicates that the
spiral arms are trailing in the rotation as in a vortex.
The spiral arms that exist today were probably formed
not too long ago and in cosmic time may be rather
short-lived.
The spiral arms are gaseous envelopes filled with
stars and dust held together by gravitational and
magnetic forces. These arms will cohere until the gas
and dust has condensed into individual stars and
these stars are dispersed throughout the galactic
plane. In fact the whole sequence, if we could speed
up the time process, would appear as a spinning
pinwheel shedding sparks or stars as it whirls. The
new-formed stars stay embedded within the spiral
arm where they were born until galactic rotation
forces them to migrate and be scattered through
space, dissolving the spiral arms. New arms are
continually being formed.
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