Our galaxy has been a mixed galaxy from the beginning... Evidence of merger 12 billion years ago discovered
An international research team led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) has discovered evidence of an ancient cosmic merger that occurred 1.23 billion years after the Big Bang, when the Milky Way galaxy absorbed a dwarf galaxy. This event, which occurred 1.8 billion years before the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus collision, is the oldest known merger in the Milky Way's history.
The absorbed dwarf galaxy, named LKH, had a mass of approximately 500 million solar masses and significantly contributed to the growth of the Milky Way. The discovery was made by analyzing 39 globular clusters in the Milky Way's central region using the Hubble Space Telescope.
Written by urgent.news from Hankyoreh's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
