Earth closer to the galactic center than we think: the Japanese team

Tokyo, Nov. 26 (Jiji Press) – The Solar System, including the Earth, is closer to the center of the Milky Way than is believed, a Japanese research team said in a research paper.

The team, led by Tomoya Hirota, assistant professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Japanese Mizusawa VLBI Observatory in Oshu, Iwate prefecture, estimated the distance to the Galactic Center at about 25,800 light years.

The estimate is compared to the International Astronomical Union’s recommended figure of about 27,700 light years, which is used in high school textbooks and others.

The team made the estimate by analyzing observation data on a total of 189 celestial bodies, including data from the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry, or VERA project, in which four radio telescopes are used across Japan.

The estimate produced by VERA is “highly credible,” Hirota said. “It could have an impact like rewriting textbooks.”