Reuters
Scientists at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found a novel method to measure the mass of the Milky Way galaxy based on temperature measurements of the hot diffuse gas in the Milky Way halo.
A paper about the research was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in late November.
The method proposed by professor Guo Fulai and his team uses the hot halo gas as a tracer for Milky Way mass.
The research group investigated the spatial temperature and density distributions of the halo gas, its observational signatures, and its interplay with energy processes in the Milky Way galaxy over the past few years.