Milky Way disc flip discovery
Analysis based on 6 articles · First reported Jul 21, 2026 · Last updated Jul 23, 2026
This discovery has no direct impact on financial markets. It is a purely scientific finding that may influence future space research funding but does not affect any traded assets.
Astronomers from Durham University presented research at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting suggesting that the Milky Way's disc may have flipped orientation by more than 90 degrees billions of years ago, likely due to a head-on collision with the dwarf galaxy Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus. Using supercomputer simulations of 25 Milky Way-like galaxies, they found that galaxies with slowly rotating stellar haloes often experienced such flips. The Milky Way's stellar halo rotates unusually slowly, as observed by the International — European Space Agency's Gaia mission. The study provides a possible explanation for this mystery and offers new insights into galaxy formation and evolution.
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