milky way
The Spherical Structure at the Core of the Milky Way Formed in a Single Burst of Star Formation
Like other spiral galaxies, the Milky Way has a bulging sphere of stars in its center. It's called "The Bulge,"…
Astronomers Map Out the Raw Material for New Star Formation in the Milky Way
A team of researchers has discovered a complex network of filamentary structures in the Milky Way. The structures are made…
Astronomers Find the Hollowed-Out Shell of a Dwarf Galaxy that Collided With the Milky Way Billions of Years Ago
In 2005 astronomers found a dense grouping of stars in the Virgo constellation. It looked like a star cluster, except…
7% of the Stars in the Milky Way’s Center Came From a Single Globular Cluster That Got Too Close and Was Broken Up
The heart of the Milky Way can be a mysterious place. A gigantic black hole resides there, and it's surrounded…
A Rogue Earth-Mass Planet Has Been Discovered Freely Floating in the Milky Way Without a Star
If a solar system is a family, then some planets leave home early. Whether they want to or not. Once…
Gaia has Already Given Us 5 New Insights Into the Milky Way
The European Space Agency launched the Gaia mission in 2013. The mission's overall goal was to discover the history of…
The Milky Way is Already Starting to Digest the Magellanic Clouds, Starting With Their Protective Halos of Hot Gas
Massive galaxies like our Milky Way gain mass by absorbing smaller galaxies. The Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic…
A Star had a Partial Supernova and Kicked Itself Into a High-Speed Journey Across the Milky Way
Supernovae are some of the most powerful events in the Universe. They're extremely energetic, luminous explosions that can light up…
A Stellar Stream of Stars, Stolen from Another Galaxy
Modern professional astronomers aren't much like astronomers of old. They don't spend every suitable evening with their eyes glued to…
Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way
Six billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way? If true, that's astounding. But the number needs some context. The Milky…