milky way
Giant Low-Frequency Scan Searches for Aliens in 2,800 Galaxies
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has fascinated us for decades. Now a team of researchers have used the Murchison…
Are Andromeda and the Milky Way Doomed to Collide? Maybe Not
Scientists discovered the Andromeda galaxy, known as M31, hundreds of years ago, and around a century ago, we realized that…
Mapping the Milky Way’s Dark Matter Halo
Anytime astronomers talk of mapping the Milky Way I am always reminded how tricky the study of the Universe can…
The Inner and Outer Milky Way Aren’t the Same Thickness, and that’s Surprising
At first glance, the universe and night sky seem largely unchanging. The reality is very different, even now, a gas…
Hot Gas is Being Vented Away from the Center of the Milky Way
Studying gas in the Universe is no easy task. We often look to ‘non-visible’ wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum such…
Three of the Oldest Stars in the Universe Found Circling the Milky Way
Mention the Milky Way and most people will visualise a great big spiral galaxy billions of years old. It’s thought…
Does the Milky Way Have Too Many Satellite Galaxies?
The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are well known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way but there are more. It…
Black Holes Can Halt Star Formation in Massive Galaxies
It’s difficult to actually visualise a universe that is changing. Things tend to happen at snails pace albeit with the…
Mapping the Milky Way’s Magnetic Field in 3D
We are all very familiar with the concept of the Earth’s magnetic field. It turns out that most objects in…
The Milky Way’s Most Massive Stellar Black Hole is Only 2,000 Light Years Away
Astronomers have found the largest stellar mass black hole in the Milky Way so far. At 33 solar masses, it…