Milky way
5 articles-
Life on Earth Is a Sketchy Guide to an Alien Civilization
Any assumptions about properties like intelligence or agency that we make based on what we currently know about life on Earth are on exceedingly shaky ground.Photograph by European Southern Observatory (ESO) / Wikicommons Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . You might imagine that in the midst of a global […] -
The Young Milky Way Collided With a Dwarf Galaxy
Reprinted with permission from Quanta’s Abstractions blog. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . As the Milky Way was growing, taking shape, and minding its own business around 10 billion years ago, it suffered a massive head-on collision with another, smaller galaxy. That cosmic cataclysm changed the Milky Way’s structure forever, […] -
I Built a Stable Planetary System with 416 Planets in the Habitable Zone
This system is completely stable—I double-checked with computer simulations. But nature would have a tough time forming this system. If it exists, it could only have been built by a super-advanced civilization.Image by Sean Raymond / planetplanet.net Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . When Frank Drake was a boy, […] -
How to Map a Galaxy When You’re Right in the Middle of It
Why the Milky Way looks like it spirals. -
Seeing the Galactic Forest for the Trees
To solve a mystery, scientists often zoom in on it as close as they can, break the puzzling system down to its components, and analyze it piece by piece. Sometimes, comprehending a system requires just the opposite: pulling back to see the bigger picture. Sometimes that bigger picture is bigger than our galaxy, in which […]