Milky Way

Latest about Milky Way

Side view of a galaxy’s active centre blasting out a strong wind of gas in all directions, shown as yellowish-white streaks.

Star-killing 'black hole wind' spotted in a distant galaxy could explain a major mystery at the Milky Way's center

By Joanna Thompson published

For the first time, scientists discovered a powerful 'black hole wind' that blew through a nearby galaxy for hundreds of days, crushing star formation and reshaping the galaxy. Something similar may already have happened in the Milky Way.

Black Holes
One of the spiral galaxies newly imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope

'Mind-blowing' James Webb telescope images reveal 19 spiral galaxies in the greatest detail ever seen

By Isobel Whitcomb published

New James Webb telescope images reveal 19 Milky Way-like spiral galaxies in more intricate detail than has ever been seen before.

Astronomy
A 360-degree panorama as a photosphere from Chile's Cerro Pachón mountain, showing the Rubin Auxiliary Telescope and the Rubin Observatory.

Space photo of the week: Observatory, or alien planet? Boggle your mind with this 360-degree image

By Jamie Carter published

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which could change astronomy forever when it comes online this August, looks like a planet all its own in this surreal new photo.

Astronomy
UGC 8091 is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 7 million light-years away from our solar system.

Space photo of the week: Hubble spies a dwarf galaxy

By Jamie Carter published

The irregular dwarf galaxy UGC 8091 is likely a building block of ‘grand design’ galaxies like our Milky Way.

Astronomy
The Milky Way seen in the night sky

How many times has the sun traveled around the Milky Way?

By Harry Baker published

Our solar system has been orbiting the Milky Way's black hole heart for 4.6 billion years. But it is hard to pin down exactly how many trips around the galaxy our sun has made during that time.

Cosmology
We see a beautiful cloud of yellowish gas illumated by starlight at the galaxy's center, on a dark blue background

James Webb telescope discovers dark secret of 'The Brick,' a gas cloud flipping assumptions about how stars are born

By Robert Lea published

Peering deep into 'The Brick,' a dark, chaotic gas cloud at the heart of the Milky Way, the James Webb Space Telescope uncovered secrets that could shake up theories of star formation.

Astronomy
The full view of the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals a 50 light-years-wide portion of the Milky Way’s dense center. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region, along with some as-yet unidentified features.

James Webb telescope reveals 'nursery' of 500,000 stars in the chaotic heart of the Milky Way

By Jamie Carter published

A dazzling new James Webb telescope image of the region near the Milky Way's central black hole reveals thousands of newborn stars among the "most extreme cosmic environment" in the galaxy.

Astronomy
Warped Milky Way

Spiral galaxies like the Milky Way are surprisingly rare. Astronomers may finally know why.

By Ben Turner published

The Supergalactic Plane we are located in doesn't have many spiral galaxies like the Milky Way. Astronomers think they finally know why galaxies like ours are so rare.

Astronomy
An artistic representation of the spiral barred galaxy ceers-2112, observed in the early universe. The Earth is reflected on an illusive bubble surrounding the galaxy, recalling the connection between the Milky Way and ceers-2112.

James Webb telescope uncovers mysterious Milky Way 'twin' in the early universe

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

A Milky Way doppleganger discovered in the early universe suggests some key physical ingredient is missing from cosmological models.

Space Exploration
A 2 week observation through the optic eye of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory revealed this sturning explosion occurring in the super massive black hole at the Milky Way's center, known as Sagittarius A or Sgr A*. Huge lobes of 20-million degree Centigrade gas ( red loops in image) flank both sides of the black hole and extend over dozens of light years indicating that enormous explosions occurred several times over the last 10 thousand years.

Mysterious 'fountain of youth' near Milky Way's central black hole is full of newborn stars that shouldn't exist

By Briley Lewis published

New James Webb Space Telescope observations might be able to explain why clusters of young stars keep turning up near the Milky Way’s central black hole.

Astronomy
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