Calea Lactee a înghiţit o galaxie mai mică, în urmă cu circa 11,8 miliarde de ani / ”Fuziunea a fost destul de paşnică, fără coliziuni între stele”

Recent research reveals that the Milky Way galaxy absorbed a smaller galaxy about 11.8 billion years ago, marking its earliest known galactic merger. This event contributed significantly to the Milky Way's growth, incorporating stars and interstellar gas. The smaller galaxy, named 'Low-energy-Kraken-Heracles', contained stars equivalent to 500 million solar masses. Scientists utilized Hubble and Gaia telescopes to analyze star clusters, determining their age and composition. The findings suggest that this merger was peaceful regarding stars but more explosive concerning gas, leading to new star formation. This merger, along with two others, has influenced the formation of our solar system and Earth.