Astronomers Revise Timeline of Milky Way's Last Major Merger
Via SCI News
Summary
New data from the Gaia mission suggests that the Milky Way's last major galactic collision occurred less than three billion years ago, significantly more recent than the previously estimated eight to eleven billion years.
By analyzing the "wrinkles" or ripples in stellar orbits, astronomers have determined that these features would have dissipated if they originated from the ancient Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus merger, pointing instead to a more recent event called the Virgo Radial Merger.
