Hubble solves merger mystery from Milky Way's early years
Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, grew to its current size in part by consuming smaller galaxies.
Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, grew to its current size in part by consuming smaller galaxies.
The short version
- Now, new data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show definitive evidence of a dwarf galaxy merging with the young Milky Way in the earliest phases of its evolution.
- This finding extends our knowledge of our galaxy's history 1.8 billion years farther back in time than before.
- The results are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
What happened
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, grew to its current size in part by consuming smaller galaxies.
Why it matters
The results are published in the journal Nature Astronomy .
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