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Exclusive: ‘Like ripples on the sea’: Chinese astronomer tells Global Times how the Milky Way got its newly discovered ‘wrinkles’_我的网站

A |      7月20日，由浙江体彩联合FM93浙江交通之声共同发起的“浙BA篮不住的精彩”抖音挑战赛正式落下帷幕。

B | 自6月26日启动以来，这场为期25天的全民篮球狂欢，以“零门槛”的姿态向每一位热爱篮球的普通人敞开怀抱——不会运球、没摸过篮球都没关系，两个简易动作，一部手机，就能收获属于篮球的纯粹快乐。       数据亮眼：       一场“篮不住”的流量盛宴      挑战赛期间，话题热度持续攀升。据统计，#浙BA篮不住的精彩 话题在抖音平台累计播放量突破1300万次，参赛短视频覆盖全省11个设区市、90个县（市、区），真正实现了“县县有参与、全域齐互动”。      从白发苍苍的社区大爷，到青训班里刚学会运球的孩子；从高校篮球社团的青春学子，到体彩实体店的忠实购彩者——全年龄段、全职业、零门槛 的参与机制，让篮球的快乐回归了它最本真的模样。    

    Schematic diagram of Milky Way Photo: Courtesy of Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO)
Chinese astronomers have discovered that the Milky Way is not a simple, smoothly warped disk, but contains widespread "wrinkle-like" structures resembling ripples on a water surface, providing new clues to understanding the galaxy's 3D structure and evolutionary history.
The discovery was made by a research team from the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, using data from the "Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting" (MWISP) survey. The findings were published online titled "Widespread corrugations superimposed on the Galactic warp in the outer CO disk" in the journal Nature Astronomy on August 7.
For decades, astronomers have known that the Milky Way's disk is not perfectly flat. Instead, its outer regions are slightly bent upward on one side and downward on the other - a structure known as a galactic warp.
However, the latest study shows that this large-scale bending is not the whole story. Smaller-scale vertical fluctuations are also embedded within the warped disk, creating a more complicated 3D structure.
"In many illustrations and in the public imagination, the Milky Way looks like a flat vinyl record," Sun Yan, associate researcher at PMO and the first author of the paper, told the Global Times on Tuesday. "In reality, the outer part of the Milky Way is more like a record that has been heated and deformed, with one side lifted and the other side lowered. That is the warp. On top of this large-scale deformation, there are additional smaller waves, which we call corrugations," Sun explained.
Using a more everyday analogy, Sun compared the Milky Way's structure to a sea surface. The warp is like a large swell that changes the overall height of the ocean, while corrugations are smaller waves superimposed on that swell.
"The two structures exist together. In our data analysis, we first removed the large-scale warp model, which allowed us to reveal the smaller wave-like patterns hidden underneath," Sun said.
The research focused on the Milky Way's outer gas disk rather than the more familiar stellar disk. According to Sun, cold molecular gas and stars provide two complementary ways to study the galaxy.
"Molecular gas is a sensitive probe for studying the vertical structure and dynamics of the galactic disk because it is concentrated near the disk plane and responds strongly to disturbances," she said.
Molecular gas is also the raw material for star formation, meaning its distribution is closely connected with the formation of young stars. The researchers traced this gas through carbon monoxide (CO) emission, which can penetrate regions obscured by interstellar dust and provide a different perspective from optical observations of stars.
The breakthrough was made possible by the MWISP survey, conducted using China's 13.7-meter millimeter-wave telescope. 
"MWISP can be understood as giving the Milky Way a large-scale medical examination using millimeter-wave observations," Sun said.
Previous CO surveys were limited in sensitivity and coverage, making it difficult to accurately study the distant outer regions of the galaxy. In contrast, the latest study identified more than 30,000 molecular cloud samples, covering about half of the Milky Way's outer disk and extending to a distance of about 26 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center.
With such a large dataset, researchers were able to first establish a model of the overall warp and then separate subtle structures from the background. The newly identified corrugations have radial wavelengths of about 3.9-7.9 kiloparsecs and vertical amplitudes of about 100-200 parsecs.
The study also identified a corrugation structure extending about 40 kiloparsecs in azimuth at a distance of around 12.7 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center. In some spiral arm regions, vertical displacements can reach approximately 200 parsecs.
The researchers believe these large-scale vertical fluctuations are likely related to "bending waves" triggered by external gravitational disturbances, suggesting that the Milky Way might have experienced more complex interactions during its evolutionary history.
Although the newly discovered structures sound dramatic, they do not have any direct impact on Earth or the solar system. "Humans cannot directly sense these corrugations," Sun said. "Their scales reach thousands or even tens of thousands of light-years, and even if these structures are evolving, such changes would not be directly perceptible on human timescales."
The study focuses on the outer disk of the Milky Way and does not include the region around the solar system. "There is currently no evidence that these structures have any observable influence on Earth's environment," Sun said.
Instead, their significance lies in what they reveal about the past. Like geological layers recording Earth's history, these galactic structures preserve traces of the Milky Way's evolutionary journey, the researchers explained.
Researchers said future studies combining more precise motion measurements and numerical simulations could further reveal the origins of these structures and their role in the long-term evolution of the Milky Way.
。活动收到有效参赛短视频2000余条，总互动量突破265万，用实打实的数据证明了群众体育的无限活力。       群像故事：       每一个热爱都值得被看见       在数以万计的参赛者中       涌现出无数动人的瞬间——       浙江广播电视集团“中国蓝名嘴”菲菲，分享了这样一段故事：穿上球衣，小伙子叶光辉就是在“浙BA”赛场上发光发热的温州联队球员；       脱下球衣，他在纱帽河开了这家瘦肉丸小店，店里挂满赛场照片、队友签名球衣，小店成了打卡点。从前他只是普通打工人，靠着“浙BA”的热度，小店客流翻番，他说没想到走在大街上都被认出来。       这就是“浙BA”动人的地方，它也从来不只属于会打篮球的人。       尤为值得关注的是，在这次活动中，众多蓝V博主们纷纷转发了这样一个动人的故事：2026年“浙BA”战火重燃，桐乡队以平均年龄23岁的青春阵容完成集结，7月1日主场迎战南湖队。       与这支“00后”扛大旗的队伍同频共振的，还有一位桐乡少年——赵振尧，他是桐乡市洲泉中心小学学生，六岁开始接触篮球，父亲赵鹏为训练其控球精准度和下肢稳定性，设计了一套“板凳运球”训练法——在仅17厘米宽的凳面上完成双球交叉运球。

C |        这个看似“杂技”的训练项目，让他的抖音账号“James尧”获赞超1045万，一条视频点赞高达215.4万，人民网也曾转发点赞。       这样的故事还有很多：这些篮球故事，正是“公益体彩，让每一个篮球梦都被看见”的最好注脚。       体彩搭台：       让篮球快乐回归大众       作为本次挑战赛的发起方，浙江体彩始终坚守“来之于民、用之于民”的发行宗旨。从举办“浙BA”嘉年华带来明星球员互动访谈、趣味打卡挑战，到联合FM93浙江交通之声开设《精彩浙BA》节目；从发起“2026个篮球梦想”公益征集活动，到上线“篮不住的精彩”抖音挑战赛——浙江体彩以一系列创新举措，持续放大赛事与体彩品牌的双向声量，让体育彩票的公益初心走进千家万户。       影响力出圈：       从一场挑战赛看“浙BA”现象       抖音挑战赛的火热，只是“浙BA”现象的一个缩影。作为浙江省规模最大、档次最高的群众篮球赛事，2026年“浙BA”实现全面提档升级：省级争霸赛参赛队伍由22支扩容至28支，市级预选赛延续全省90个县（市、区）全覆盖的办赛规模。截至目前，“浙BA”全网传播量已超300亿次，累计现场观众近179万人次，拉动文旅体综合消费超百亿。       抖音挑战赛作为“浙BA”赛事之外的重要延伸，用最轻盈的方式撬动了最广泛的参与——不限年龄、不限性别、不限职业，真正践行了“全民健身”的国家战略。       公益体彩 步履不停       随着挑战赛的圆满收官，获奖名单将于近期在浙江广电集团北高峰APP公示3天，全程透明、公平公正。大疆Action 5 Pro运动相机、京东E卡、体彩顶呱刮即开票等丰厚奖品静待主人。       一张体育彩票，承载的是“来之于民、用之于民”的初心。这一次，浙江体彩把舞台交给了每一个普通人；下一次，公益体彩的故事还将继续书写。篮球梦，从来不分专业与业余——浙BA，一起燃！我们下个赛场见。

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Published on:11:43:55