Tag Archive for 'Galaxy disk'

Using supercomputer simulations of galaxies like the Milky Way, Batrakov et al. found that galaxies with slowly rotating stellar haloes are more likely to have experienced a major ‘disk flip,’ where our Galaxy’s disk changed its orientation by more than 90 degrees. Image credit: Batrakov et al.

Our Milky Way Galaxy Likely Underwent Disk Flip after Ancient Galactic Collision: Study

Jul 22, 2026 by News Staff

A head-on collision with another galaxy billions of years ago may have dramatically reoriented the Milky Way’s disk, according to new supercomputer simulations...

This image from the Gemini North telescope shows a pair of interacting spiral galaxies: NGC 4568 (bottom) and NGC 4567 (top). Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Violent Collision May Have Destroyed Milky Way’s First Stellar Disk

May 20, 2026 by News Staff

New simulations suggest a violent collision 11 billion years ago reshaped our Galaxy and triggered a burst of star formation. This image from the Gemini...