Milky Way | Astronomy.com

Astronomers race to learn more about third interstellar visitor

Mark Zastrow — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 17:49:14 +0000

Astronomers have spotted an object from outside our solar system bolting toward the Sun at around 150,000 mph (240,000 km/h). The big, frozen ball of ice and dust presents a rare chance to study an object that formed around an alien solar system, and potentially much earlier in the Milky Way’s history. The object namedContinue reading "Astronomers race to learn more about third interstellar visitor"

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How weird is the Milky Way?

Alison Klesman — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

In the vast expanse of the universe, the Milky Way Galaxy holds a special place in our hearts. It is our home, and after studying it for decades from our cosmic residence nestled within one of its majestic spiral arms, we know it better than any other galaxy. But how truly typical — or extraordinary —Continue reading "How weird is the Milky Way?"

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A speeding pulsar may have ‘broken’ this cosmic bone

Daniela Mata — Mon, 05 May 2025 21:59:21 +0000

The Milky Way Galaxy is full of cosmic objects of varying shapes and sizes — sometimes resembling objects here on Earth. A galactic center radio filament called G359.13142-0.20005 (or G359.13 for short) is seen here in X-ray (blue) and radio (gray) light. Astronomers have likened the 230 light-year-long structure to a cosmic “bone” perpendicular toContinue reading "A speeding pulsar may have ‘broken’ this cosmic bone"

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Astronomers find a rare ‘dark galaxy’ within our Local Group

Alison Klesman — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Be careful out there, astronomers: There could be a dark galaxy in our midst. In research published today in Science Advances, researchers from the Chinese National Academy of Sciences discovered that a fast-moving cloud of gas near the Milky Way may not be a cloud at all, but rather a small galaxy made mostly ofContinue reading "Astronomers find a rare ‘dark galaxy’ within our Local Group"

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What will happen to the solar system when the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy merge?

Astronomy Staff — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 17:00:00 +0000

What will happen to the solar system when the Milky Way completes the merger with the Andromeda Galaxy? Bryan MitchellMaricopa, Arizona Your excellent question affords us the opportunity to distinguish between near-certain astronomical predictions and those which are far less so. Astronomers predict that our home galaxy and the nearest major galaxy to it, AndromedaContinue reading "What will happen to the solar system when the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy merge?"

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Binary star system finally discovered near Milky Way center

Randall Hyman — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 16:05:57 +0000

Veiled in gas and clouds, the Milky Way’s center does not easily give up secrets. The initial detection of its supermassive black hole (SMBH) decades ago posed as many riddles as it solved, including the puzzling absence of binary stars around it. The hot, massive stars that populate the region are almost always found asContinue reading "Binary star system finally discovered near Milky Way center"

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A baby Milky Way may have swallowed a dwarf galaxy named Loki

Mark Zastrow — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 17:51:27 +0000

The Milky Way galaxy has had a violent history. It did not grow though simple and calm accretion, but rather through the aggressive mergers of multiple smaller galaxies. Recently, a team of astronomers found the remnants of perhaps the oldest merger, right in our stellar neighborhood. The Milky Way’s stars have a wide variety ofContinue reading "A baby Milky Way may have swallowed a dwarf galaxy named Loki"

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The Milky Way and Andromeda may not merge, after all

Daniela Mata — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 15:20:00 +0000

If you’ve ever attended a star party, it’s more than likely that the astronomer on site pointed out the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) — currently around 2.5 million light-years away — and mentioned that it’s expected to collide with the Milky Way Galaxy in about 4.5 billion years. But recently, an international team of astronomers publishedContinue reading "The Milky Way and Andromeda may not merge, after all"

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New Horizons measures how dark the universe can get

Randall Hyman — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:51:20 +0000

As black as space may seem, even the darkest corner of the universe gets light. Measuring that tiny glimmer — called the cosmic optical background (COB) — sheds light on the energy balance of the entire universe, one of cosmology’s holy grails. With recent data gathered by the New Horizons spacecraft, now 57 times fartherContinue reading "New Horizons measures how dark the universe can get"

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Survivors from the Milky Way’s birth

Rod Pommier — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Over the past eight years, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia space observatory has transformed our understanding of the history of our Milky Way Galaxy. From Gaia’s perch at Earth’s L2 Lagrange point, roughly 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) distant, it has produced the most comprehensive three-dimensional survey of the Milky Way ever made:Continue reading "Survivors from the Milky Way’s birth"

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