The Milky Way Could Be Much Smaller Than We Thought

The Milky Way galaxy, home of Earth's solar system, may actually be only half as massive as currently thought, scientists say. Stars in the far outer reaches of the Milky Way, between 260,000 and 490,000 light-years from the galactic center, are cruising around surprisingly slowly, researchers found. Galactic mass and star velocities are linked, so the results could have big implications. "Because these velocities are so low, the mass of our galaxy may be much lower than we once thought," lead a...