Milky Way loses two arms

Again someone from my SF reading group has sent me an interesting link.He doesn't appear to get out much.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24951910/

It was this that made me laugh.

"For years, people created maps of the whole galaxy based on studying just one section of it, or using only one method," Benjamin said. "Unfortunately, when the models from various groups were compared, they didn't always agree. It's a bit like studying an elephant blind-folded."

However it goes on to say

The findings confirm an earlier observation by a team of astronomers, making a strong case that the Milky Way has two major spiral arms, a common structure for galaxies with bars. These major arms have the greatest densities of both young, bright stars and older, so-called red-giant stars.

So it's not that new a theory/supposition.

[Theodoric]

To rephrase Oscar Wilde:

To lose one arm may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.