A new analysis of about 10,000 normal Sun-like stars in the central hub of the Milky Way reveals that our galaxy’s bulge is a dynamic environment of stars of various ages zipping around at different speeds. This conclusion is based on nine years’ worth of archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope. This study of the complicated, chaotic heart of our Milky Way may provide new clues to the evolution of our galaxy and its merger with smaller satellite galaxies. Currently, only Hubble has sharp enough resolution to simultaneously measure the motions of thousands of Sun-like stars at the galaxy bulge's distance from Earth over time. Hubble gives a narrow, pencil-beam view of the galaxy’s core to unveil thousands more stars than those spotted in earlier studies.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and T. Brown (STScI)
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