{"id":406675,"date":"2026-05-01T12:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406675\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T12:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:15:16","slug":"edge-of-milky-way-finally-found-after-astronomers-scanned-100000-stars-to-probe-40000-lightyears-of-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406675\/","title":{"rendered":"Edge of Milky Way \u2018finally found\u2019 after astronomers scanned 100,000 STARS to probe 40,000 lightyears of space"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newspress-collage-dmm8iy84x-1777564045704.jpg\" alt=\"An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows Illustration of the Sun and planets from the Solar System, with Earth and Moon in the foreground and a blue nebula in the background\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16297581\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>EXPERTS believe they may finally have pinpointed the edge of the Milky Way after analysing a whopping 100,000 stars.<\/p>\n<p>In groundbreaking research, experts at the University of Malta estimate  this boundary lies around 40,000 light years from the galaxy\u2019s centre. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for The US Sun newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Experts believe they have identified the edge of the Milky Way Credit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>They believe the edge of our galaxy is approximately 40,000 lightyears away Credit: AFP<\/p>\n<p>To reach that daunting conclusion, researchers analysed the ages and positions of over 100,000 stars. <\/p>\n<p>What emerged was a striking pattern in how the galaxy has evolved. <\/p>\n<p>Stars nearer the centre tend to be far older, while those further out grow progressively younger \u2013 but only up to a point.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, the trend reverses.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/tech\/16295785\/doomed-spacex-rocket-crash-moon-elon-musk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newspress-collage-9aaf4y8qh-1777550718155.jpg\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">OUTTA SPACE<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">Doomed SpaceX rocket likely to crash into MOON as Musk&#8217;s craft left drifting<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Experts made this discovery after examining 100,000 stars Credit: Getty \u2013 Contributor<\/p>\n<p>Research revealed the oldest stars are closest to the centre of the galaxy Credit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>That \u201ccertain point\u201d marks the end of the Milky Way\u2019s active star-forming region, effectively setting out the edge of the galaxy.<\/p>\n<p>The explanation for this lies in how stars are born. <\/p>\n<p>Closer to the centre, dense clouds of gas and dust fuelled early star formation, creating older stellar populations. <\/p>\n<p>Further out, those materials are more thinly spread, slowing the process and resulting in younger stars.<\/p>\n<p>Farther beyond this boundary, astronomers still find older stars. <\/p>\n<p>However, scientists say these are migrant stars. <\/p>\n<p>Formed at the galaxy\u2019s star-forming heart, they were later pushed outward over billions of years.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers suggest major forces are responsible for this phenomenon. <\/p>\n<p>These include powerful gravitational interactions capable of flinging stars beyond their birthplace. <\/p>\n<p>They gradually populate the galaxy\u2019s outermost reaches with these ancient wanderers.<\/p>\n<p>To arrive at the figure of 40,000 light years, scientists looked at several  factors.<\/p>\n<p>That distance coincides with a gravitational boundary known as the Outer Lindblad Resonance.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also the point where the Milky Way\u2019s disk begins to warp, spreading its gas more thinly.<\/p>\n<p>Taken together, these clues point to this distance as the cut-off for active star formation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXPERTS believe they may finally have pinpointed the edge of the Milky Way after analysing a whopping 100,000&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392,13301],"class_list":["post-406675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space","tag-space-and-astronomy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}