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Astronomers discovered an ancient cosmic collision with an object, dubbed the "sausage" galaxy, which reshaped the structure of the Milky Way.
The accident was a milestone in the history of the Milky Way. to shape both its internal bulge and its external halo, according to a series of studies published in the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
and
The Letters of the Astrophysical Journal
Scientists propose that about 8 billion to 10 billion years ago, an unknown dwarf galaxy struck the Milky Way.
The dwarf did not survive the impact: it quickly collapsed and the wreckage is now all around us. "The collision shredded the dwarf, letting his stars move in very radial orbits" that are long and narrow like needles, said Vasily Belokurov of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom
. The Space Agency's Gaia satellite
The galactic fusion star paths earned them the nickname "Gaia Sausage," says Wyn Evans of Cambridge
"We have traced the velocities of the stars, and the shape of the sausage just jumped on us as the smaller galaxy separated, its stars were thrown into very radial orbits.These sausage stars are what's left of the last major fusion of the Way Milky, "says the astronomer.
The Milky Way continues to collide with other galaxies, such as the puny galactic dwarf galaxy of Sagittarius
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