Galaxy

A research team has discovered a fossil galaxy within the Milky Way. Using infrared data from thousands of stars, the scientists conclude that the galaxy, called Heracles, collided and merged with the Milky Way 10 billion years ago.

A team of astronomers has completed a massive survey of the Milky Way’s central bulge, which captured the light fingerprint of over 250 million stars, and could help provide new insights into our galaxy’s history and creation.

Scientists have estimated the total amount of matter in the universe using a more precise method. By calculating the mass of hundreds of galaxy clusters, the team found that matter makes up around a third of the contents of the universe.

A new “Sonification” project from NASA's Chandra X-ray Center has translated visual data into sound, letting us hear the center of the Milky Way, the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, and the Pillars of Creation nebula.

In recent years astronomers made the puzzling discovery of two bizarre galaxies with almost no dark matter, which should dominate them. Now, a new study has suggested an explanation for that mystery – a larger nearby galaxy is stripping it away.

Exactly why and how the expansion of the universe is accelerating remains unknown. One hypothesis blames strange black-hole-like objects made of dark energy, and now astrophysicists have theorized how these objects work and where they all went.

Astronomers have mapped out a huge invisible region of the galaxy next door. Hubble has detailed the size and structure of Andromeda's gas halo – and found that it’s already bumping up against that of the Milky Way, in advance of a cosmic collision.

Astronomers have spotted a galaxy with a structure similar to the Milky Way. That’s not particularly surprising in itself, but the weird thing is that it's 12 billion light-years away, meaning its far more developed than it should be for its age.

A 20-year study of the sky has allowed astronomers to produce a comprehensive 3D map of the universe. A new analysis of this map has highlighted a mismatch in the Hubble Constant, and revealed when the expansion of the universe began to accelerate.

The night sky is a beautiful canvas for photography, and the Milky Way is the star (pun intended) of the show. The latest edition of the annual Milky Way Photographer of the Year features absolutely stunning shots of our home galaxy and planet.

Astronomers investigating gamma ray emissions have discovered that certain active galaxies are giving off bursts in regular patterns. This, the team says, could be an indication of galaxies harboring two supermassive black holes in their centers.

A newly released map shows our home galaxy in a new light. The eROSITA telescope has scanned the entire sky in X-rays, painting a colorful portrait that reveals large-scale structures and hundreds of thousands of previously unknown X-ray sources.