SMRTR Science & EngineeringJul 9, 2026Live Science

'Astronomers have to revise estimates': The Milky Way may be larger, heavier and more lopsided than we realized

SMRTR summary

Two of the Milky Way's spiral arms are roughly 10% farther from Earth than previously thought, making our galaxy wider, heavier, and more lopsided than believed. Scientists discovered this by tracking X-ray echoes from gamma-ray bursts passing through gas clouds, a more accurate method than relying on the galaxy's rotation rate.

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