#milky-way

A University of Chicago student team using Sloan Digital Sky Survey data has identified an extremely metal-poor red giant in the Milky Way that researchers say likely originated outside our galaxy.

Using European Space Agency Gaia data and a new detection algorithm, astronomers have identified dozens of faint stellar-stream candidates around the Milky Way, sharply expanding the map of ancient gravitational debris.

New research suggests the Sun and thousands of similar stars may have made a dramatic journey from the galaxy's dense inner regions to the quieter outer disk billions of years ago—a migration that may have made life on Earth possible.

Astronomers using the ALMA telescope have produced the largest image ever taken of the Milky Way's central region, spanning 650 light-years. The mosaic reveals a complex network of cold gas filaments and dozens of molecules, from simple silicon compounds to complex organics like acetone and ethanol.

An international team of astronomers has detected what could be an ultra-fast pulsar lurking near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy. If confirmed, this discovery would provide an unprecedented natural laboratory for testing Einstein's general relativity in extreme gravitational conditions.

Columbia University scientists working with the Breakthrough Listen project have identified a millisecond pulsar candidate spinning at 8.19 milliseconds near Sagittarius A*. If confirmed, the discovery could provide a powerful new tool for testing Einstein's general relativity under extreme gravitational conditions.