milky way
Is the Milky Way… Normal?
Studying the large-scale structure of our galaxy isn’t easy. We don’t have a clear view of the Milky Way's shape…
How Do Stars Get Kicked Out of Globular Clusters?
Globular clusters are densely-packed collections of stars bound together gravitationally in roughly-shaped spheres. They contain hundreds of thousands of stars.…
The Milky Way has an Inner Ring, Just Outside the Core
Combining data from the APOGEE survey and the Gaia Observatory with sophisticated models, a team of scientists has found a…
Gaia Finds Ancient Satellite Galaxy Pontus Embedded in Milky Way
A recent study looked at stellar streams hidden in Gaia’s data, to uncover a torturous past.
Astronomers Scan the Center of the Milky Way for Any Sign of Intelligent Civilizations. Nothing but Silence.
Are there civilizations somewhere else in the Universe? Somewhere else in the Milky Way? That's one of our overarching questions,…
Nearby Supernovae Exploded Just a few Million Years Ago, Leading to a Wave of Star Formation Around the Sun
The Sun isn't the only star in this galactic neighbourhood. Other stars also call this neighbourhood home. But what's the…
An Incredible View Into the Heart of the Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is over 200,000 light-years away, yet it's still one of our galaxy's closest neighbours in…
Best Image Ever Taken of Stars Buzzing Around the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
The GRAVITY collaboration just released the clearest images ever of the stars that orbit the supermassive black hole in the…
Once New Horizons was out Beyond Pluto, it Could Finally Measure the Brightness of the Milky Way
The New Horizons spacecraft has been speeding away from Earth since it launched in 2006. Scientists using the Alice UV…
A Black Hole has been Found Lurking Just Outside the Milky Way
Astronomers have found a smaller, stellar-mass black hole lurking in a nearby satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. The…