The Milky Way's Ancient Secret: Did Our Galaxy Flip 90 Degrees Billions of Years Ago?
New supercomputer models suggest the Milky Way's spiral disk may have dramatically flipped 90 degrees in its past, potentially altering our solar system's orbit. This groundbreaking research, fueled by data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, points to ancient galactic mergers, like the collision with the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus dwarf galaxy, as a primary cause for this monumental cosmic event. Discover how astronomers are unraveling the dynamic, violent history of our home galaxy and what it means for our place in the universe.