Single cloud of gas that is BIGGER than the Milky Way and has 10 billion times the mass of the sun has been discovered in a ‘no man’s land’ for galaxies An isolated cloud larger than the Milky Way has been discovered in deep space The gas cloud has a mass of 10 billion suns … Read more
The Milky Way formed slowly and quietly over billions of years, rather than through a violent collision with another galaxy as previously assumed, astronomers claim. Creating a detailed cross-section of a galaxy ‘broadly similar’ to our own gave astronomers from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence and the University of Sydney more insight into the Milky … Read more
How important is the presence of liquid water? It is now widely believed that Mars holds a reasonably large volume of water. However, the surface of the planet is so cold, this water exists only as ice. In order for life to exist on a planet, many scientists believe it is essential for the world … Read more
Astronomers from the UK have created a new map of the Milky Way made up of nearly two billion stars using data gathered by the European Space Agency (ESA) Gaia space observatory. University of Cambridge experts led the creation of the cosmic atlas of two billion stars, that they believe could shed light on how … Read more
‘Fossil galaxy’ discovered deep within the Milky Way is the remnant of a star cluster that collided with our own 10 BILLION years ago and was absorbed into its ‘halo’, astronomers claim Experts analysed the composition and motion of tens of thousands of stars This allowed them to identify the hidden remnant of the galactic collision The … Read more
‘Fossil galaxy’ discovered deep within the Milky Way is the remnant of a star cluster that collided with our own 10 BILLION years ago and was absorbed into its ‘halo’, astronomers claim Experts analysed the composition and motion of tens of thousands of stars This allowed them to identify the hidden remnant of the galactic collision The … Read more
The first radio burst discovered in the Milky Way is now repeating as it travels from a magnetar – a neutron star with a strong magnetic field – 32,616 light-years away. The initial flash of energy was first detected in April and scientist have identified two more, confirming fast radio bursts ‘are emitted by magnetars … Read more
There are around 300 million planets that exist outside our Solar System but within the Milky Way which could potentially harbour life, according to NASA. Four of them are within just 30 light-years from Earth, with the closest just 20 light-years away, the space agency states. Researchers arrived at the 300 million figure based on … Read more
The real Rogue One: Earth-sized planet is discovered roaming the Milky Way without a parent star The ‘free-floating’ planet, bound to no star, was found by US and Polish experts Most known planets orbit stars, but the galaxy is likely teeming with such rogues In 2011, for example, the same team found 10 rogues each … Read more
NASA speculates there are hundreds of rogue planets hiding all across the galaxy and may actually outnumber the hundreds of billions of stars. These free-floating orbs travel around space unattached to a larger star and an orbital telescope set to launch in 2025 aims to uncover their existence. According to researchers, the $4 billion Nancy … Read more