Release 22: "Project SERPO" Special Announcement:
What on Earth has happened?!
 


IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AROUND THE WORLD WHO HAVE FOLLOWED THE "Project SERPO" saga, then READ EVERY WORD ... S-L-O-W-L-Y ... DON'T speed read through it! You'll miss IMPORTANT information!

 

------------------------------------------
 

BREAKING NEWS FLASH: Bill Ryan's SERPO.org Web site successfully hacked on Sunday, 12-17-06 by a COMMON, PETTY, LOW-LIFE COMPUTER CRIMINAL! Read the rest HERE

 

Back to Information

 

 

 

 

 

Release 23: The ‘Gate 3’ Incident (updated)
A Special Report by Victor Martinez
 

MODERATOR’s NOTE:


UFO Thread List:


This e-mail was originally streamed on Tuesday, June 4, 2007 @ 9:26 p.m. What I’ve done is to reproduce the ORIGINAL stream, include the subsequent amendments and then add the following NEW subsections at the END of the original posting:

• VISITOR HOUSING ADDENDUM: DETAILED BACKGROUND INFORMATION WHICH LED TO THE “GATE 3” SHOOTING!
• BOMBSHELL REVELATION! LEARN THE “SECRET” WHICH LINKS ALL 5 ALIEN SPECIES TOGETHER and THE NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED OFFICIAL IDENTITY OF THE WOUNDED ALIEN!
• GATE 3 SHOOTING SHOCKER: THE GORY, BLOODY and ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC DETAILS OF THE INFAMOUS “GATE 3 INCIDENT” REVEALED HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME!
• CATALOGUED ALIEN SPECIES and THEIR CELESTIAL ORIGINS
• ASTRONOMICAL DATA ON THE HOMEWORLDS OF THE ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS
• SHOCKER: CITING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS 20+ YEARS OLD, ANONYMOUS DISCLOSES 2 ALIEN SPECIES ORIGINATING FROM A PARTICULAR CONSTELLATION AND NOW A BRAND NEW BOOK and MAGAZINE ARTICLE CONFIRM ALIEN LIFE EXISTS WITHIN THAT CONSTELLATION: THE CYGNUS ARM ... A MUST-READ!
• THE STRUCTURE OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OUR SPIRAL GALAXY—TYPE SABbc—CENTERED IN SAGITTARIUS
• LIGHT-YEARS AS A UNIT OF MEASUREMENT ... WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?
• SUGGESTED REFERENCE SOURCES


For those of you who read the original e-mail of 6-4-07, SCROLL DOWN to:


“VISITOR HOUSING” and read from that point on for all of the brand NEW MATERIAL. This now constitutes the THIRD version—and hopefully FINAL!


“The Gate 3 Incident” is a subject that originally came up in December 2005 when I was in regular communication with ANONYMOUS of the “Project SERPO” disclosures.


Because someone let the “genie out of the bottle” (Paul McGovern?), I have now been given permission to release the following still CLASSIFIED information. The following is the true story of the “Gate 3 Incident” as told by ANONYMOUS and his DIA colleagues.
As always, my own comments/remarks are offset by the use of [ ] brackets.

 


E-mail message


From: ANONYMOUS
Date: Thurs, Dec. 15, 2005, 8:39 p.m. (PST+3)
To: Victor**@*****.net (Victor Martinez)
Subject: THE ESCAPED ALIEN and THE GATE 3 INCIDENT

VICTOR: Thank you for your recent inquiry; who told you about this event? It’s still highly classified, and unless you receive instructions otherwise from me or any member of our group [DIA-6], this is to remain between you and me only.


This is the true story of the Gate 3 Incident.


 DATE: This incident occurred in April 1983.

 BACKGROUND: Gate 3 was a designation for an entrance into the Groom Lake Complex. This gate connected the Groom Lake complex with Area 51. The gates surrounding the Groom Lake complex was [were] the responsibility of a private security company [Wackenhut Corp]. There was a mixture of private security and military security for the complex.


 EVENT: The incident occurred when a “Visitor,” [Extraterrestrial Entity/ETE] being housed at Area 51, S-2 facility escaped. A massive search was started by military and private security forces. The Visitor was on foot and left the underground S-2 facility through an open vault door.
NARRATIVE: Part of the search team was the Director of Security for the Groom Lake complex and an agent from the Air Force Office of Special Investigation [AFOSI], who was the counterintelligence officer for the complex. Both were traveling in a jeep from the back gate of Groom Lake to the gate leading into Area 51, called Gate 3.


As the jeep approached Gate 3, the OSI agent noticed the guard was missing from the required location outside the gate house. As the jeep stopped, the OSI Agent got out of the jeep to investigate.


 CRITICAL MASS: The OSI agent walked up to the gate to check on the guard. As the OSI agent got closer to the front door of the gate, the OSI agent noticed the interior of the gate was blood splattered. The OSI agent noticed only small pieces of human body parts were left of a human being.


The OSI agent returned to the jeep and contacted the Central Security Control (main/primary security office for the complex) and reported the findings. The Director of Security contacted his office by way of a radio phone, mounted inside the jeep. The OSI agent, armed with only an automatic pistol, walked around the area searching for a perpetrator.


 FLASHPOINT: The OSI agent located the “Visitor,” lying down near an underground water culvert. The OSI agent challenged the Visitor, ordering the Visitor to give up. The Visitor walked away, followed by the OSI agent. At some point, the OSI agent fired his weapon at the Visitor, as a warning. The Visitor, turned and pointed something at the OSI agent.


The OSI agent fired directly at the Visitor, hitting the Visitor directly in the chest with two (2) rounds from the 45 caliber automatic pistol. The Visitor fell to the ground. It took about 18 minutes for additional security forces to arrive. The Visitor was placed inside a containment chamber and transported back to the S-2 facility. The Visitor recovered from the wounds.


 FOLLOW-UP: The incident was investigated by the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigation [AFOSI].


THE INCIDENT REMAINS CLASSIFIED.


 IDENTITY OF THE ALIEN: The name of the creature involved in “The Gate 3 Incident” was an Archquloid.
A-R-C-H-Q-U-L-O-I-D


The alien is described as one of the “Big Nosed Grays.” It was a 5’ 6” tall, gray or tan being with large, black, slanted eyes and a mushroom-like head, with four (4) long fingers. They have yellow eyes with vertical pupils and very large, beaked noses. They are genetically engineered by the Ebens [cloned?] and were given to the U.S. Government for observation/examination/study by the Ebens.


 VISITOR HOUSING: This particular Visitor lived in “The Bubble” officially known as “The Clean Sphere” located between Levels 2 and 3 of the 8-level S-2 facility at Area 51. If memory serves me right, there were 12-15 compartments within “The Clean Sphere” or “Bubble” which was located at the south end of the S-2 facility.


Both the Archquloid and J-ROD lived in two (2) of the 12-15 compartments marked “Visitor Containment.” Victor, it’s important to note here that J-ROD and the Archquloid creature were NOT one and the same and that the claims made by some that they were are just plain WRONG. The Archquloid escaped, NOT J-ROD.


What we speculate is that because the Archquloid had to live its primary existence in “The Clean Sphere” and could only spend a minimal amount of time in our atmosphere, that an OVERexposure to our atmosphere somehow affected its sanity and intellect. Furthermore, it caused the creature to become delusional, disoriented and lose its mental faculties for sound reasoning, analysis and judgment.


In street parlance, it “lost its mind” or was of unsound mind which accounts for his escape from the high-security “Clean Sphere” facility and the resulting homicide of the security guard.
 

 

E-mail message
From: ANONYMOUS
Date: Sat, Jun 9, 2007, 10:46 pm (PDT+3)
To: Victor**@*****.net
Subject: The Gate 3 Incident

VICTOR: I cannot handle your almost daily, incessant and constant barrage of questions regarding The Gate 3 Incident and the astronomical data you keep asking me for regarding our Visitors. At the present time, I am going over reams and reams of documents some of which will be released to you for public distribution through your large list and the Serpo Web site over the summer and into the fall.


Because so many of your questions require some research on my part, and it’s distracting me from this other important work, I have directed two (2) of our members [DIA-6] to communicate with you directly; we all speak with one voice.


Whether you wish to combine and represent their responses as one (1) individual or break it up matters little to me; you have the full confidence of me and my group as to how you wish to proceed.

 

 


 VISITOR HOUSING ADDENDUM:

DETAILED BACKGROUND INFORMATION WHICH LED TO THE “GATE 3” SHOOTING!
 

From: A MEMBER OF THE DIA-6

VICTOR: Here is the detailed background information on “The Gate 3 Incident” which led up to the unfortunate series of events in April 1983. This is all explained in a 300-page report issued on “The Gate 3 Incident” which combines the investigative efforts of both the FBI and the AFOSI.


The Ebens showed us creatures they created. Yes, they can clone almost any living tissue into a creature via a method called “rapid-cycle cloning.” JROD was a creature created by the Ebens. He was intelligent, contained a brilliant mind and was able to adapt quickly to our environment.


The second creature—the Archquloid—was primitive. The second creature was a form of a slave. It could be controlled, given orders and was safe, or at least we thought it was safe. The second creature was controlled by a “BRAIN CHIP,” and was functionally controlled by a little black box.


The Ebens provided this creature to us for medical experiments. JROD became frustrated with our efforts to control this creature. The Archquloid creature was able to fully communicate telepathically with JROD. At some point, the creature expressed a desire to be free. JROD released the creature and thus we had “The Gate 3 Incident.”


After the incident, JROD was placed in a secure confinement [containment] facility. The Archquloid creature—which survived the shooting and once medically healed—was placed inside a more secure facility and restrained by a system provided to us by the Ebens.


The creature died about one (1) year later from a mixture of the trauma associated with the shooting incident and his brain activity, which simply failed.


After this incident, JROD was never fully trusted again. He was under strict control at all times. His mannerisms changed. His mood changed because of the increased detention. JROD, although gentle, was upset over these new measures.
 

 

 

BOMBSHELL REVELATION!

LEARN THE “SECRET” WHICH LINKS ALL 5 ALIEN SPECIES TOGETHER and THE NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED OFFICIAL IDENTITY OF THE WOUNDED ALIEN!


From: A MEMBER OF THE DIA-6

VICTOR: You sure ask a lot of questions of our group.


There are two (2) common links between each alien group and the Ebens. The first link is that the Ebens discovered each group, civilized them and then CLONED their species with others. It is an extremely complicated subject, and is something I don’t care to go into at this time with you. While we don’t know all of the specifics, basically the Ebens used the DNA of each alien group to CREATE OTHER SPECIES OF ALIENS.


The second common link is the DNA. Each alien group has the SAME EXACT DNA. How that is possible, we don’t know. Level 2 at the S-2 facility is where JROD and the other alien [Archquloid] lived. They have special containment facilities to house each alien.


Victor, one thing that has never been disclosed is the name given to the second alien, the one shot [the Archquloid]. The USG named that alien: CBE-1 or CLONED BIOLOGICAL ENTITY-1.


THIS HAS NEVER BEEN OFFICIALLY DISCLOSED TO THE PUBLIC; you have a “first” here.


The word “Archquloid” was coined by A51 [Area 51] scientists to classify each different alien race. We knew of five (5), all given to us by the Ebens. We developed other names for each race especially for the “Archquloid” who was the creature shot in the Gate 3 Incident.


The Ebens cloned other races of aliens. As one of my other colleagues recently wrote and told you, it is really an incredibly complex story. But the Archquloid was a CLONED BIOLOGICAL ENTITY [CBE-1], created by the Ebens. It would take hundreds of hours and thousands of pages of written clarifications to explain it all neither of which I am prepared to do.


The QUADLOIDS were also genetically created by the Ebens. The Quadloids were cloned from two (2) other species. So, as you can see, it really gets very complicated hence my reluctance to delve into it too deeply.


Regarding your question as to the number of “S-level” facilities at Area 51: I can only tell you that there are nine (9) such levels within the S-2 facility at Area 51. As to what is done on each level and at each facility, I don’t want to disclose that highly classified information as it could very well compromise the security of the base; our group was unanimous on this issue.


In only the most general of terms, there are nine (9) levels at the S-2 complex.

 

They are:

Level 1: Administration
Level 2: Containment for Visitors
Level 3: Open storage and work sites for Visitor Crafts
Level 4: HAZMAT Containment Rooms
Level 5: Propulsion System Testing and Experimental Station-APS
Level 6: Secondary Containment for Visitor Crafts
Level 7: Vaults- Storage sites for Visitor’s gifts [referenced in SERPO POSTING #19]
Level 8: Storage site for Visitor’s High Energy Devices
Level 9: Not used, at least through 1995

Please note that sometimes S-2 is referred to as an 8-level facility as the floor that houses our Visitors is often times not counted as a floor; I have listed them for you exactly as they appear in the base security manual.


We’re all very well aware that you’ve developed other high-level governmental contacts, so if one of your other sources tells you more details, I would ask you to think twice before publishing it for the reasons I just gave. A detailed description of each “S” facility might also bring you some very costly legal problems.


I can’t answer your astronomy questions; another member of our group has extensive astronomical data on many alien species; I’ll have him get in touch with you.

 

 


 GATE 3 SHOOTING SHOCKER:

THE GORY, BLOODY and ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC DETAILS OF THE INFAMOUS “GATE 3 INCIDENT” REVEALED HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME!


From: A MEMBER OF THE DIA-6

As for “The Gate 3 Incident,” everyone has their own opinions. With respect to the OSI agents directly involved in “The Gate 3 Incident” shooting, I don’t want to put anyone in a dangerous, sticky situation. Some of this information is still extremely classified.


To this day, many involved in the shooting still have great differences of opinion as to what should have been done especially with a containment team enroute and only minutes away. I don’t want to be accused of being a Monday morning quarterback. The agents on scene did what they thought was right and while they were generally praised, others differ on that point.


[MATERIAL PURPOSELY DELETED BY MODERATOR: 3 PARAGRAPHS.]


No one has mentioned the poor guard. The examination of the scene revealed the guard was imploded. The Archquloid had a hidden weapon in [on?] his body. The weapon, which was recovered and locked up, contained a form of an energy-directed beam. The beam struck the guard’s body and imploded it.
 

The largest piece of a body part left was about the size of a quarter. ONE EYEBALL WAS FOUND INTACT. The Archquloid lived for about one (1) year after it was shot, but it was in constant pain since our doctors couldn’t adequately and effectively treat all of his problems.


According to the information we developed from the Archquloid, which appears in the 300-page report, the guard threatened him and he killed the guard in self-defense. The investigation revealed the guard’s handgun (Colt .45 automatic) was NEVER fired.
 

The gun was not destroyed, which brings up another interesting point. If the guard was threatening the Archquloid with a gun, WHY DIDN’T the Archquloid destroy the weapon? As you can see, there are many UNanswered questions. In closing, the OSI Special Agent fired six (6) shots, striking the Archquloid four (4) times. The Agent fired from a distance of 165 feet, which is really outstanding shooting.
 

MODERATOR’s NOTE: The following section was written by a confidential source within the Defense Intelligence Agency and is a current sitting member of “The DIA-6.” He appears to have a different take on the cause of the Visitor’s aberrant, dysfunctional, frenzied and near hysterical behavior. ANONYMOUS resumes his information under CATALOGUED ALIEN SPECIES.
 

 

 

“VISITOR” SUPPLEMENTARY BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

VICTOR:

This particular “VisItor” was suffering from a medical [mental/emotional] condition. Consider the following:

• this creature came to this planet from another solar system;
• traveled about 38 light years [38.42];
• was locked up in a special containment housing complex;
• was shocked by our civilization and our culture;
• was not allowed to leave;
• was under strict compliance controls (metal straps that shocked the creature when it tried to leave or did not comply with our instructions), and;
• was unable to communicate in our language.

It was probably suffering from PTSS [Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome]. What a shock! This is the same type of shock felt by our 12 Team Members enroute to Planet SERPO in 1965. The creature recovered from its gunshot wounds inflicted by the OSI agent. But it later died, about one year later.


By the way, Bob Lazar DID work at Area 51. He is also aware of this incident.


MODERATOR’s NOTE:
Ever since the SECOND, more detailed stream I sent on “The Gate 3 Incident,” I’ve received nearly 90 inquiries as to the ORIGIN of the alien species listed in that second posting; ANONYMOUS responded late Tuesday evening, 6-12-07.
 

 

 

CATALOGUED ALIEN SPECIES and THEIR CELESTIAL ORIGINS:


VICTOR:
Regarding your question as to where some of the aliens come from, here is the complete list of the alien species the U.S. Government knows of and has catalogued:

1) Ebens = Planet SERPO in Zeta Reticuli
2) Archquloids = Planet PONTEL near the Cygnus Arm
3) Quadloids = Planet OTTO in Zeta Reticuli (genetically engineered “praying mantis” and lizard-like creatures created by the Ebens)
4) Heplaloids = Planet DAMCO near the Cygnus Arm
5) Trantaloids = Planet SILUS in Zeta Reticuli

[NOTE: SOME of the above appeared in “Project SERPO” POSTING #19]


NOTES: Both planets DAMCO and PONTEL are in the Milky Way near the Cygnus Arm.

• DAMCO is from a solar system which contains 11 planets and it is the fourth (4th) planet out; it’s size is a little bigger than that of Earth.
• PONTEL comes from another solar system entirely with a sun just about the size of ours. PONTEL is the fifth (5th) planet out and just a little smaller than ours.

More to come....
 

 

 

ANONYMOUS ASTRONOMICAL DATA

ON THE HOMEWORLDS OF THE ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS:

1) CYGNUS ARM within the Milky Way Galaxy.

These CYGNUS NEBULOSITIES—which contain Planets DAMCO and PONTEL—are all located ~2,000 light-years away. Looking toward the constellation CYGNUS, is a stunning and complex region of nebulae strewn along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The bright, hot, supergiant star DENEB and popular celestial sights such as the North America and PELICAN emission regions, the IC 1318 “BUTTERFLY,” and the CRESCENT and VEIL NEBULAE can also be identified.


Silhouetted by the glowing interstellar clouds and crowded star fields, the dark NORTHERN COAL SACK is also visible, part of a series of obscuring dust clouds forming the GREAT RIFT in the Milky Way. Along with the Sun, they lie within the ORION SPIRAL ARM of our galaxy.
 

2) Constellation: CANCER, Star M44:

“A BEEHIVE” OF STARS! The BEEHIVE CLUSTER lies ~580 light-years away, and contains over 350 stars in a cluster spread out over only 10 light-years. M44 is a prominent open cluster of stars. Nicknamed “PRAESEPE” and “The BEEHIVE,” it is one of the few open clusters visible to the unaided eye.


M44 was thought to be a nebula until Galileo used an early telescope to resolve the cluster’s bright blue stars. These stars in M44, which is thought to have formed about 400-730 million years ago, is larger and older than most other open clusters. When viewed with a powerful telescope, hundreds of stars become visible.
 

3) Constellation: TAURUS, M45:

THE PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER is ~380-400 light-years from Earth and contains 3,000+ stars. The nine (9) brightest stars are: Atlas, Pleione, Alcyone, Maia, Asterope, Taygeta, Calaeno, Merope and Electra. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the PLEIADES can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city.


Also known as the “SEVEN SISTERS” and M45, the PLEIADES is one of the brightest and closest open clusters. The PLEIADES contains over 3,000 stars and is only 10-13 light years across. As viewed through a good telescope, there are blue reflection nebulae that surround the brighter cluster stars. Low mass, faint, brown dwarfs have also been found in the PLEIADES.
 

4) Constellation: RETICULUM:

Zeta Reticuli I and II, are 5th magnitude yellow double star system, Planets SERPO, OTTO and SILUS are 38.42 light-years away. Planet SERPO’s binary suns, Zeta Reticuli I & II; SERPO is Reticulum IV.

 

 


 PLANET SERPO OF THE ZETA RETICULI I & II BINARY STAR SYSTEM

IS IN THE CONSTELLATION OF RETICULUM AND HOME OF THE EBEN CIVILIZATION!


http://www.solstation.com/stars2/zeta-ret.htm

• Zeta Reticuli I & II are two (2) 5th magnitude yellow-orange main sequence dwarf stars of 5.2 and 5.5 magnitude; they are not blue. Zeta Reticuli lies 38.42 light years or 225,968,400,000,000 miles away.
• Secondly, Zeta Reticuli 1 is approx. 91% of the diameter of our sun, and Zeta Reticuli 2 is approx. 99% of the diameter of our sun.
• Thirdly, the distance BETWEEN the stars is 367 BILLION miles for Zeta Reticuli I and II, or approx 100 times the Sun-Pluto distance, as they orbit a common center.

THE ZETA RETICULI I & II STAR SYSTEM
http://www.ufoconspiracy.com/reports/zetareticuli_star_sys.htm
THE ZETA RETICULI INCIDENT
http://www.gravitywarpdrive.com/Zeta_Reticuli_Incident.htm
 

THE 400 BILLION STARS OF THE MILKY WAY... OUR GALACTIC NEIGHBORHOOD IS JUST TEEMING WITH SENTIENT LIFE REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE CONTROL-FREAKS OF THE USG STATE PUBLICLY ... ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
http://members.nova.org/~sol/chview/chv5.htm
 

 

 

SHOCKER: CITING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS 20+ YEARS OLD,

ANONYMOUS DISCLOSES 2 ALIEN SPECIES ORIGINATING FROM A PARTICULAR CONSTELLATION AND NOW A BRAND NEW BOOK and MAGAZINE ARTICLE CONFIRM ALIEN LIFE EXISTS WITHIN THAT CONSTELLATION: THE CYGNUS ARM ...

THE CYGNUS MYSTERY:

UNLOCKING THE ANCIENT SECRET of LIFE’s ORIGINS IN THE COSMOS

– By Andrew Collins


FLASHPOINT: From the distant past and a far-off star comes a revelation to change all we know about who we are, where we come from, and where we go from here.


The CYGNUS ARM CONSTELLATION is the key to UNlocking humanity’s ancient and universal belief that life originated in the heavens—and will ultimately return there. Best-selling author Andrew Collins has found that this long-held conviction emerges from an astronomy that is about 17,000 years old, with standing stones, temples, and monuments across the globe oriented towards Cygnus’ stars.


All around the world, ancient peoples fixed the location of heaven— the source of cosmic life and death—in the same segment of sky, the constellation of CYGNUS the SWAN, but why?


From the oldest temple in the world to the cutting edge of astrophysics, Andrew Collins sets out to find answers on an extraordinary historical quest to unravel the earliest beliefs of our most distant ancestors.


The CYGNUS MYSTERY ...

 

 

ATLANTIS RISING Magazine

July/August 2007 #64 issue - carries a 5-page article entitled, “Has a Popular Science Writer Found the Connection Between Human Evolution & The Cygnus Constellation?” by Dr Greg Little, pp. 32-33, 63-65.

CHOICE EXCERPT:

The reason Cygnus was so important to the ancients is most easily answered by a previously mentioned fact. The brightest star of the Cygnus constellation is DENEB, which was the pole star 17,000 years ago. But there is an even more intriguing aspect to this. Cygnus lies at a critical juncture in the Milky Way known as “The Great Rift.” It is at this spot that the Milky Way splits into two long sides with a dark, murky area dividing it.


This precise location of the Milky Way has served as a key component in many ancient religious systems. The most mysterious and important religious beliefs held by ancient people concerned the origin and destiny of souls. The Milky Way and The Great Rift are the specific geographic locations central to ancient beliefs about the soul.
• p. 32, column #3, paragraphs #2 and #3.

 

 


 THE STRUCTURE OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY:

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OUR SPIRAL GALAXY—TYPE SABbc—CENTERED IN SAGITTARIUS:
 

The Milky Way is the galaxy which is the home of our Solar System together with at least 200 billion other stars (more recent estimates have given numbers around 400 BILLION) and their planets, and thousands of clusters and nebulae, including at least almost all objects of Messier’s catalog which are not galaxies on their own.


All the objects in the Milky Way Galaxy orbit their common center of mass, called “The Galactic Center.” As a galaxy, the MILKY WAY is actually a giant, as its mass is probably between 750 billion and ONE TRILLION solar masses, and its diameter is about 100,000 light years. Radio astronomical investigations of the distribution of hydrogen clouds have revealed that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy of Hubble type Sb or Sc.


Therefore, our galaxy has both a pronounced disk component exhibiting a spiral structure, and a prominent nuclear region which is part of a notable bulge/halo component. Decade-long observations have brought up more and more evidence that the Milky Way may also have a bar structure (so that it would be type SB), so that it may look like M61 or M83, and is perhaps best classified as SABbc.


Recent investigations have brought up support for the assumption that the Milky Way may even have a pronounced central bar like barred spiral galaxies M58, M91, M95, or M109, and thus be of Hubble type SBb or SBc.
 

 

 

MORE ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE MILKY WAY


The MILKY WAY GALAXY belongs to the “Local Group,” a smaller group of three (3) large and over 30 small galaxies, and is the second largest
after the giant ANDROMEDA GALAXY M31,  but perhaps the most massive member of this group. M31, at about 2.9 million light years, is the nearest large galaxy, but a number of faint galaxies are much closer: Many of the dwarf Local Group members are satellites or companions of the Milky Way.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061126.html

 

The two closest neighbors, both already mentioned, have only recently been discovered: The nearest of all, discovered in 2003, is an already almost disrupted dwarf galaxy, the CANIS MAJOR DWARF, the nucleus of which is about 25,000 light-years away from us and about 45,000 light-years from the Galactic Center.
 

Second comes SagDEG at about 88,000 light years from us and some 50,000 light years from the Galactic Center. These two dwarfs are currently in close encounters with our Galaxy and in sections of their orbits situated well within the volume occupied by our Milky Way. They are followed in distance by the more conspicuous LARGE and SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD, at 179,000 and 210,000 light years, respectively.
 

The spiral arms of our Milky Way contain interstellar matter, diffuse nebulae, and young stars and open star clusters emerging from this matter. On the other hand, the bulge component consists of old stars and contains the globular star clusters; our galaxy has probably about 200 globulars, of which we know about 150.
 

These globular clusters are strongly concentrated toward the Galactic Center: From their apparent distribution in the sky, Harlow Shapley has concluded that this center of the Milky Way lies at a considerable distance (which he overestimated by factors) in the direction of Sagittarius and not rather close to us, as had been thought previously.
 

Our solar system is thus situated within the outer regions of this galaxy, well within the disk and only about 20 light years “above” the equatorial symmetry plane (to the direction of the Galactic North Pole), but about 28,000 light years from The Galactic Center. Therefore, the Milky Way shows up as luminous band spanning all around the sky along this symmetry plane, which is also called the “Galactic Equator.”
 

Its center lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, but very close to the border of both neighbor constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus. The distance of 28,000 light years has recently (1997) been confirmed by the data of ESA’s astrometric satellite Hipparcos.
 

Other investigations published consequently have disputed this value and propose a smaller value of some 25,000 light years, based on stellar dynamics; a recent investigation yields roughly 26,000 light years. This data, if of significance, wouldn’t immediately affect values for distances of particular objects in the Milky Way or beyond.
 

The solar system is situated within a smaller spiral arm, called the Local or ORION ARM, which is merely a connection between the inner and outer next more massive arms, the Sagittarius Arm and the Perseus Arm.
 

Our Sun, together with the whole Solar System, is orbiting the Galactic Center on a nearly circular orbit. We are moving at about 250 km/sec, and need about 220 MILLION YEARS to complete one orbit (so the Solar System has orbited the Galactic Center ~20 to 21 times since its formation about 4.6 billion years ago).
 

In addition to the overall Galactic Rotation, the solar system is moving between the neighboring stars (peculiar motion) at a velocity of about 20 km/s, to a direction called “Solar Apex,” at the approximate position RA=18:01, Dec=+26 (2000.0); this motion was been discovered by William Herschel in 1783.

 

THE MILKY WAY GALAXY

AS VIEWED FROM CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK NEAR MOAB, UTAH!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060801.html

 

 

 

LIGHT-YEARS AS A UNIT OF MEASUREMENT...

WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? WHAT IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT? / WHAT IS A ‘LIGHT-YEAR?’

Light travels at 186,170 miles/second.
So in one (1) year, light travels 5,871,057,120,000 miles.
That’s 5 trillion, 871 billion, 057 million, 120 thousand miles.

This is arrived at by:

186,170 miles/second x 60 seconds/minute = 11,170,200 miles/minute x 60
minutes/hour = 670,212,000 miles/hour x 24 hours/day = 16,085,088,000
miles/day x 365 days/year = 5,871,057,120,000 miles/year
= THE DISTANCE LIGHT CAN TRAVEL IN ONE (1) YEAR = a light year unit of measurement.

Distance to our nearest star, Alpha Centauri: 4.3 LY (light-years)

Milky Way Galaxy = 90,000 LY wide / 3,000 LY thick
No. of stars in our Milky Way: ~400 billion
No. of galaxies in our universe: ~50 billion
No. of stars in our universe: ~5 billion trillion
A light nanosecond: The distance light can travel in a billionth of a second = ~1 ft or 12” [30 cm].

AT THE CENTER OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY LIES A “BLACK HOLE” WHICH IS LIGHT-HOURS WIDE!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021018.html


 Back to Information