Gaia discovers our galaxy’s great wave (edge-on) (IMAGE)
Caption
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia space telescope has revealed that our Milky Way galaxy has a giant wave rippling outwards from its centre.
The unexpected galactic ripple is illustrated in this figure. Here the positions of thousands of bright stars are shown, overlaid on Gaia's edge-on map of the Milky Way.
Credit
ESA/Gaia/DPAC, S. Payne-Wardenaar, E. Poggio et al (2025)
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Credit must be given to the creator. Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
License
CC BY-SA