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A stream of nearly 500 stars in the Milky Way is actually a family - CNN

A stream of nearly 500 stars in the Milky Way is actually a family - CNN

A stream of nearly 500 stars in the Milky Way is actually a family - CNN
Jan 15, 2021 46 secs

Rather than clusters of stars, streams form linear patterns.

When astronomers used data gathered by the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope to study Theia 456, they discovered that all 468 stars in this stream were born simultaneously.

More recent data, however, has revealed other patterns, like these long streams, which astronomers think occurred when clusters of stars were ripped apart or stretched out.

Although we've known about these for decades, we're starting to find hidden ones."

Theia 456 stretches for 570 light-years across the Milky Way.

This stellar stream remained hidden from astronomers for a long time because it lives in the galactic plane, where the stream can easily be cloaked by the Milky Way's 400 billion stars.

So, we think all these stars were born together and have a common origin."

Uncovering more about star formation in galaxies could lead to a greater understanding of the universe and how it came to be filled with galaxies and stars.

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