NASA's Chandra telescope reveals Milky Way's outer reaches may stretch farther than previously known

A squad of astronomers discovered that the spiral arms of the Milky Way postulation whitethorn agelong farther retired into abstraction than was antecedently known.

The scientists made precise region measurements of particulate clouds successful the arms utilizing information from 2 telescopes orbiting precocious supra Earth's ambiance — NASA's Chandra, the astir almighty X-ray scope ever built, and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton.

Researchers took vantage of rare, almighty gamma-ray bursts successful distant galaxies. As X-rays from those bursts traveled done the Milky Way, immoderate of the airy bounced disconnected particulate clouds, creating rings that could beryllium measured with antithetic precision.

An artist's rendering of what the Milky Way postulation looks similar with its arms farther retired successful space. (NASA)

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"This is simply a precise nonstop mode — relying lone connected geometry — to precisely measurement distances to the Milky Way’s spiral arms," said Beatrice Vaia, the Italian Ph.D. pupil who led the study. "Most different methods trust connected assumptions astir however the Milky Way rotates, which go progressively uncertain successful the outer regions of our galaxy."

The particulate unreality successful the astir distant limb of the Milky Way was estimated to beryllium astir 3,500 light-years wide, according to the information the squad collected.

Astronomers person been alert of the Milky Way's arms for astatine slightest a century, but mapping them has ever been hard since Earth is positioned wrong 1 of them.

A presumption of the Milky Way Galaxy adjacent Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes of Death Valley National Park successful California connected May 29, 2025. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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But the caller breakthrough with studying gamma-ray bursts — a method not hampered by Earth's presumption wrong the postulation — could person monolithic implications connected however we conceptualize our location wrong the universe.

"The differences are small, but immoderate revision of these distances is important due to the fact that they are truthful cardinal for knowing our galaxy," said Ilaria Fornasiero, a Ph.D. pupil and co-author connected the study. "For example, this could mean that astronomers person to revise estimates of the wide of the postulation due to the fact that that affects however wide the arms stretch."

The Chandra X-ray Observatory portion it was being built Feb. 10, 1999. (NASA)

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The lone downside to the method is that suitable gamma-ray bursts are rare. Researchers person recovered lone a fistful implicit the past 25 years that were agleam capable and positioned successful a mode that allowed them to measurement the Milky Way's spiral arms.

"We volition proceed to beryllium connected the lookout for more," said co-author Andrea Tiengo.