Insights into the history of the Milky Way revealed by the Gaia telescope.
Two streams of stars that helped form our galaxy more than 12 billion years ago have been discovered by the European Space Agency’s telescope Gaia.
Unprecedented insights into the history of our galaxy, the Milky Way, have been gathered by the European Space Agency (ESA).
ESA’s space telescope Gaia detected two ancient streams of stars that swirled together and merged into the Milky Way at the beginning of its existence.
The researchers were examining data collected by Gaia when they noticed the streams, which they named Shakti and Shiva.
In Hindu philosophy, Shakti and Shiva are a divine couple whom Hindus believe united to create the universe.
The stars that make up the two streams in space are 12 to 13 billion years old, and each stream has a mass of about 10 million suns.
The two streams detected by Gaia are similar but not identical.
Shakti’s stars orbit slightly further from the center of the galaxy and in more circular orbits than Shiva.
