Shine With No Stars at All - The Milky Way Began as a Swarm of Thousands of Tiny Galaxies
New supercomputer simulations from the University of Chicago suggest the Milky Way formed from a collection of thousands of smaller galaxies, some of which lacked stars entirely. This model provides new insights into the early evolution of our galaxy and the origins of chemical elements like iron.
Why it matters
Understanding the formation of the Milky Way helps astronomers refine models of the early universe and the life cycles of galaxies.
A three-year supercomputer simulation led by the University of Chicago suggests our galaxy started as a crowd of thousands of small ones, some of them without a single star. The same model offers a possible explanation for an old puzzle about iron, pointing to the very first stars in the universe.
Long ago, the patch of sky that would become our galactic neighbourhood looked nothing like a galaxy. It was a collection of thousands of smaller galaxies . Some were turning out stars at a frantic pace, others held nothing but gas, and others were littered with dead stars and black holes.
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