New Atlas

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"Stellar baby boom" may have given birth to half the Milky Way's stars

Michael Irving May 13, 2019

Scientists have been poring over the Gaia galactic census of Milky Way stars for about a year. Now, a team of researchers has found evidence of a “stellar baby boom,” a short period of time in which more than half the stars in the thin disc were born.

Gaia's all-sky-view, showing the clear center of the Milky Way and the galactic disc

Space

Massive hypervelocity star escaping Milky Way hints at presence of hidden black hole

Anthony Wood March 13, 2019

A team of astronomers has managed to find the origin of an enormous star that is currently barreling out of the Milky Way having escaped from one of our galaxy’s spiral arms. The discovery challenges the theory that such stars come from the galactic center.

NASA graphic showing the structure of the Milky Way

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Astronomers calculate the mass of the entire Milky Way galaxy

Michael Irving March 7, 2019

How heavy is the Milky Way galaxy? A team of astronomers has used data from Hubble and the Gaia satellite to make the most accurate measurement of the mass of the galaxy by studying the motions of star clusters orbiting the Milky Way.

Astronomers have measured the mass of the Milky Way by studying the movements of orbiting clusters ...

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New study suggests ancient stars form crystal cores

Anthony Wood January 9, 2019

An international team of astronomers has uncovered the first direct evidence for the theory that the dying husks of ancient stars, known as white dwarfs, solidify into crystals as they age.

Artist's impression of a white dwarf undergoing crystallization

Space

The Sun's "identical twin" may have been discovered

Michael Irving November 20, 2018

Our Sun may live a pretty lonesome life nowadays, but when it was born it was the middle child in a family of thousands. Now astronomers in Portugal have found not just a solar sibling but a “twin,” more or less identical to the Sun, meaning it’s a great place to look for extraterrestrial life.

Our Sun was born in a group of thousands of other stars, and now astronomers have ...

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Gigantic "ghost" galaxy spotted circling the Milky Way

Michael Irving November 13, 2018

Astronomers have spotted a mysterious “ghost” galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. Huge but extremely faint, the oddball galaxy has been named Antlia 2, and it might just be weird enough to force us to rethink what we know about galactic physics and dark matter.

The new galaxy, named Antlia 2 (right) is extremely faint compared to the Milky Way (middle) ...

Space

Hypervelocity alien stars could be invading the Milky Way

Anthony Wood October 2, 2018

Astronomers have discovered a population of incredibly fast-moving stars bearing down on the Milky Way. It is possible that these newly found "hypervelocity" stellar bodies were created in another galaxy, before being hurled out into intergalactic space on a collision course with the Milky Way.

Space

Interstellar object 'Oumuamua's home narrowed down to four stars

David Szondy September 25, 2018

A team of scientists have identified four stars, one of which could be the home of 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object known to visit the solar system. Based on data from ESA's Gaia stellar surveyor satellite, the four stars match the back-projected trajectory of 'Oumuamua.

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Watery exoplanets may be common, but not very friendly

David Szondy August 19, 2018

Watery planets beyond the Solar System may be more common than previously thought, making up 35 percent of exoplanets two to four times the size of the Earth. According to a new study, many planets are made up of half water by mass as opposed to the 0.02 percent water that the Earth has.

Artist's concept of exoplanets similar to Earth

Space

Milky Way still bears the 10-billion-year-old scars of a galactic collision

Michael Irving July 4, 2018

An international team of astronomers has now found evidence of a celestial smash-up between the Milky Way and an unknown dwarf galaxy that took place around eight to 10 billion years ago, and forever changed the face of our home galaxy.

An artist's impression of a collision between the Milky Way and a smaller dwarf galaxy, such ...