Sausage Stars (IMAGE)

Simons Foundation

Sausage Stars

Caption

When looking at the distribution of star velocities in the Milky Way, the stars of the Sausage galaxy form a characteristic sausage-like shape. This unique shape is caused by the strong radial motions of the stars. As the sun lies in the centre of this enormous cloud of stars, the distribution does not include the slowed-down stars currently making a U-turn back toward the galaxy's centre.

Credit

V. Belokurov (Cambridge, UK) and Gaia/ESA

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