The galactic bar scene

[dduane]

PASADENA, Calif.--Bars abound in spiral galaxies today, but this was not always the case. A group of 16 astronomers, led by Kartik Sheth of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, has found that bars tripled in number over the past seven billion years…

So what’s the cause? Gentrification, or looser liquor licensing laws?    You decide.

(with a tip of the hat to The Quantum Pontiff)

Tags: galaxies, bars, spirals, barred+spiral, CalTech, Spitzer+Science+Center, California+Institute+of+Technology