About 400 million years ago the light from the fastest spinning galaxy known began its journey to the eye of the Hubble telescope mirror.
The light started moving toward Earth about the same time that trees began to grow and evolve on the land surface.
Astronomers now have discovered this distant galaxy was moving twice as fast as the Milky Way galaxy that spins the Earth.
The Milky Way galaxy spins the Earth’s solar system at a rate of approximately 240 Km per second or 0.62 miles per second or 53,568 miles per day.
The Earth and its solar system rotates around the center of the Milky Way galaxy once every 225 million years. It has been doing this for about 13 billion years.
Why do some galaxies move faster or slower than others?
The spin rate depends upon the mass of the stars and matter within the galaxy. The more massive galaxies spin faster.
Let’s step into our Bandera time machine that they keep hidden in the basement of the courthouse and travel years to where we were 250 million years ago.
The City of Bandera was on top of a snow covered 10,000 foot mountain range that overlooked a shinning sea to the north.
There are about 200 billion galaxies in the known Universe and each galaxy contains billions of stars and solar systems. That adds up to trillions of planets spinning around billions of stars. That thought leads to the importance of humans and other evolving forms of life. What is our impact on the Universe?
How long will we last. Could we be taking our last ride on the merry-go- around as we continue to experience birth and death?
Weekly Rainfall = 0.01"
Cumulative Rainfall = 3.64"
Departure From Normal = -2.01"
Tarpley Glen Rose WL = -29.38'
Bandera Hosston WL = -403.12'
Hondo (USGS) Flow = 30.00 cfs
Medina (USGS) Flow = 168.00 cfs
Medina (USGS) Lake = 236,600 ac ft
High (F°) = 79°
Low (F°) = 48°
03-14-2017 @ 8:00 am