The Milky Way’s great wave in motion (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.
This image shows the Mikly Way edge-on.
In the red areas, the stars are positioned more ‘upward’, and in blue areas the stars are more ‘downward’ in relation to the disc of the galaxy.
The motions of the stars in the wave are made visible with the white arrows. What can be noticed, is that the peak of the upward motions (represented by the arrows) is slightly shifted relative to the physical distortion (indicated by the red/blue colours).
Credit
ESA/Gaia/DPAC, S. Payne-Wardenaar, E. Poggio et al (2025)
Usage Restrictions
Credit must be given to the creator. Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
License
CC BY-SA