Rethinking the Formation of the Milky Way - The Cosmic Companion May 19, 2021
How cutting-edge astronomical techniques were used to discover a collision between the Milky Way and another galaxy 10 billion years ago.
The formation of the Milky Way galaxy may have involved a merger with another galaxy 10 billion years ago, a new study reveals.
“All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.” The Milky Way has collided with galaxies in the distant past, and will collide with the Andromeda Galaxy, starting in about four billion years. Image credit: NASA/ESA/Z. Levay/R. van der Marel/STScI/A. Mellinger
Ten billion years ago, the Milky Way galaxy collided with a satellite galaxy, just as our family of stars began to take shape, new research reveals. Astronomers studied the ages of roughly 100 red giant stars around the Milky Way, using newly-developed techniques.
This new study could help us better understand both formation of the Milky Way, as well as the evolution of galaxies around the Cosmos.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/rethinking-the-formation-of-the-milky-way
The next three weeks are full of incredible guests on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion!
This week - May 18 (s4/e20): NASA’s Scott Lambros, Instrument Systems Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, tells us about this remarkable observatory.
May 25 (s4/e21): The Interstellar probe – exploring space between the stars with Dr. Elena Provornikova from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
June 1 (s4/e22): Using computer modeling to peer inside the atmosphere of Saturn with Professor Sabine Stanley of Johns Hopkins University.
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