The Milky Way is not the neat, flat pinwheel many of us learned about in school. Fresh data from precision star maps now show our home galaxy as a warped, rippling disc that appears to twist and precess in space in a way that really does resemble a slowing top. The deeper astronomers look, the […]

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia space telescope has revealed that our Milky Way galaxy has a giant wave ...

The Milky Way is a spectacular sight in the summer skies but why does it look so much more brilliant than it does in the winter? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Breaking space news ...

The Milky Way is not the serene, flat disc that textbook illustrations suggest. Astronomers have confirmed that the outer edges of our galaxy’s disc are warped and that this deformation rotates slowly around the galactic center, producing a wobble that ...

Get ready, stargazers: The Milky Way could be coming to a sky near you. Our galaxy is positively teeming with billions of stars that become bright and vibrant in the cosmos at certain times of the year. And in the U.S., that time of year, known as "Milky ...

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy containing 100-400 billion stars. Planet Earth sits along one of the galaxy’s spiral arms. Though the Milky Way is generally always visible from Earth, certain times of year are better for stargazers to catch a glimpse of ...

August has been a month jam-packed with cosmic phenomena visible from Earth – from nebulas to meteor showers to planetary conjunctions. But the month isn't over yet. And now, add to the mix one of the last best opportunities to see the Milky Way.