ForumIAS LATEST
- 24 May |UPSC Prelims 2026 Paper Solved LIVE | GS Paper Detailed Discussion | ForumIAS Click Here →
- 17 May | ABC of Indian Sociology Series | 'H' = HAROLD COULD | Sociology Optional Simplified Click Here →
- 15 May | If You Are Giving Prelims 2026, Watch This Before Entering the Exam Hall Click Here to listen to Ayush Sir's advice →
- According to scientists, Milky Way was shaped in its present form as a result of collision with another smaller galaxy called Gaia-Enceladus, 10 billion years ago.
- The study has been based on data from the Gaia space observatory- a space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA). Gaia seeks to map the positions of more than 1 billion stars to the highest precision
- The merger of the Milky Way and Gaia-Enceladus increased Milky Way’s mass by about a quarter and triggered a period of accelerated star formation which lasted for 2 to 4 billion years.
- Galaxies of all types began to form relatively soon after the Big Bang explosion. The Big Bang explosion marked the beginning of the universe some 13.8 billion years ago.
- However, the galaxies were relatively smaller that time and subsequent galactic mergers have given galaxies their present configuration.
