Stars born in the inner disc interact (VIDEO)

University of Malta

Caption

Stars born in the inner disc interact with spiral arms throughout their lifetimes. These repeated gravitational encounters gradually push them outward, causing them to migrate into the outer disc regions beyond the star-forming edge (~12 kpc). This process helps explain why older stars dominate the outermost Galactic disc even though they were not born there.

Credit

Prof. Joseph Caruana, University of Malta

Usage Restrictions

For media use and educational purposes.

License

Original content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.