For years, astronomers have predicted a dramatic fate for our galaxy: a head-on collision with Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor. This merger—expected in about 5 billion years—has become ...

Astronomers have long thought that the Milky Way is headed for an inevitable crash with its neighbor, Andromeda. But a new study complicates the story. Researchers have long thought that the Milky Way ...

Our Milky Way galaxy is a cannibal. It has grown by consuming other galaxies. Yet, it too, may be destined to collide and merge with an even bigger galaxy: Andromeda. Though galaxy collisions are ...

Why does one molecular cloud outdo an entire galactic center in making stars? That’s the puzzle facing astronomers studying ...

New supercomputer simulations suggest the Milky Way could be surrounded by dozens more faint, undetected satellite galaxies—up to 100 more than we currently know. These elusive "orphan" galaxies have ...

With its moonless sky, the first week of August is one of the best times all year to see the Milky Way and meteor showers without a telescope. Here's how to be in the right place at the right time for ...

Ruby Wright receives funding from the Forrest Research Foundation. Alexander Rawlings receives funding from the University of Helsinki Research Foundation and the European Research Council. For years, ...