Telescope discovers ancient star threads 'Shiva' and 'Shakti' weaving Milky way
Milky way
European Space Agency's Gaia telescope has unveiled a fascinating revelation about our cosmic home, the Milky Way, identifying two ancient threads of stars named 'Shiva' and 'Shakti'.
These threads began weaving billions of years ago. They eventually merged to form the galaxy.Two 'streams', dubbed Shakti and Shiva, were discovered, and researchers think that these two strands of the Milky Way converged during the galaxy's formation process.
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy that contains our Solar System, along with billions of other stars, planets, asteroids, and other celestial objects. It is one of billions of galaxies in the observable universe.
The Milky Way is named for its appearance as a faint band of light stretching across the night sky, which is caused by the combined light of billions of stars, gas, and dust in the galactic plane. It is estimated to be about 100,000 light-years in diametre and contains hundreds of billions of stars.
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Our Solar System is located in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, known as the Orion Arm or Local Spur. Gaia's ability to peek into the past has allowed researchers to uncover more secrets about the Milky Way.
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The Gaia spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), is a cornerstone mission for astrometry, the branch of astronomy that deals with the precise measurement of the positions and motions of stars.
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Launched in December 2013, Gaia's primary goal is to create a highly accurate 3D map of the Milky Way galaxy by precisely measuring the positions, distances, motions, and other properties of about one billion stars in our galaxy.
In addition to mapping the Milky Way, Gaia's data has also been used to study a wide range of astronomical phenomena, including the discovery of new exoplanets, the distribution of dark matter in the galaxy, and the dynamics of star clusters and galaxies beyond the Milky Way.
(With inputs from agencies)