NEW YORK: Nearly a third of the stars in our own galaxy have dramatically changed their orbits.
This is according to a new map of the Milky Way that provides the first clear evidence of migration of stars throughout our galaxy.
The study could provide astronomers with a new understanding of how stars are formed and travel throughout the Milky Way.The map was created using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS) which studied 100,000 stars over four years.
‘We were able to measure the properties of nearly 70,000 stars in our galaxy for this particular study,’ said Donald Schneider, an astronomy professor at Penn State University.
‘This exercise can be described as galactic archaeology.
‘These data reveal the locations, motions, and compositions of the stars, which provide insights into their formation and their history.’
