milky way

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…

5 months ago

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…

5 months ago

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…

6 months ago

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…

6 months ago

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…

6 months ago

The Milky Way’s Role in Ancient Egyptian Mythology

Look through the names and origins of the constellations and you will soon realise that many cultures had a hand…

6 months ago

Roman Will Learn the Ages of Hundreds of Thousands of Stars

Astronomers routinely provide the ages of the stars they study. But the methods of measuring ages aren't 100% accurate. Measuring…

6 months ago

The Large Magellanic Cloud isn’t Very Metal

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the Milky Way's most massive satellite galaxy. Because it's so easily observed, astronomers have…

6 months ago

The Milky Way’s Smallest, Faintest Satellite Galaxy Found

The Milky Way has many satellite galaxies, most notably the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. They're both visible to the…

6 months ago

Gaia Finds Ancient Streams of Stars That Formed the Milky Way

Using ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, astronomers have tracked down two streams of stars that likely formed the foundation of the Milky…

7 months ago