Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Astronomers Find Milky Way’s Long-Lost Sibling

By Kenny Walter | July 23, 2018

Researchers have discovered that a massive galaxy—which was shredded by the Andromeda galaxy about two-billion years ago— is a sibling to the Milky Way, a discovery that could aid astronomers in understanding how disk galaxies like the Milky Way evolve and survive large mergers.

A team from the University of Michigan found that despite being mostly shredded, the massive galaxy left behind a cache of evidence, including a nearly invisible halo of stars larger than the Andromeda galaxy itself, an elusive stream of stars and a separate enigmatic compact galaxy named M32.

The new disrupted galaxy—dubbed M32p—was the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, after the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.

“Astronomers have been studying the Local Group—the Milky Way, Andromeda and their companions—for so long,” co-author Eric Bell of the University of Michigan’s Department of Astronomy, said in a statement. “It was shocking to realize that the Milky Way had a large sibling, and we never knew about it.”

The researchers used computer models to piece together the recovered evidence that revealed that the long-destroyed galaxy was a sibling to the Milky Way. They also discovered that even though many companion galaxies were consumed by Andromeda, most the stars in the Andromeda’s outer faint halo were mostly contributed by shredding a single large galaxy.

“It was a ‘eureka’ moment,” Richard D’Souza, a postdoctoral researcher in Michigan’s Department of Astronomy and lead author of the study, said in a statement. “We realized we could use this information of Andromeda’s outer stellar halo to infer the properties of the largest of these shredded galaxies.”

M32p was at least 20 times larger than any other galaxy that merged with the Milky Way over the course of its lifetime.

The new research also could provide insight into the formation of Andromeda’s enigmatic M32 satellite galaxy, suggesting that the compact and dense M32 galaxy is the surviving center of the Milky Way’s long-lost sibling.

“M32 is a weirdo,” Bell said. “While it looks like a compact example of an old, elliptical galaxy, it actually has lots of young stars. It’s one of the most compact galaxies in the universe. There isn’t another galaxy like it.”

Due to the results of the study, scientists may alter the traditional understanding of how galaxies evolve and whether large interactions would destroy disks and form an elliptical galaxy.

The timing of the merger could also explain the disk thickening as well as a burst of star formation approximately two billion years ago.

“The Andromeda Galaxy, with a spectacular burst of star formation, would have looked so different two billion years ago,” Bell said. “When I was at graduate school, I was told that understanding how the Andromeda Galaxy and its satellite galaxy M32 formed would go a long way towards unraveling the mysteries of galaxy formation.”

Related Articles Read More >

2025 R&D layoffs tracker tops 92,000
2028 Olympic air taxis could beat traffic for the lucky few
U.S. Space Force invests $13.7 billion in next-gen launch vehicles from SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin
EL SEGUNDO, CA/USA - OCTOBER 13, 2014: Boeing manufactuing facility. Boeing manufactures and sells aircraft, rotorcraft, rockets and satellites. It is the second-largest defense contractor in the world.
8 major R&D moves this week: HHS cuts 10,000 jobs while Anthropic & DataBricks form $100M pact
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE