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New discovery: Astronomers found a giant, mysterious wave rippling outwards through the disc of the Milky Way Galaxy
Gaia mission: The finding comes from data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope, which mapped nearly two billion stars
Galactic dynamics: Scientists already knew the Milky Way disc was warped and wobbles like a spinning top, but the scale of this new ripple was unexpected
Scale of effect: The wave stretches over a vast area, disturbing stars between 30 and 65 thousand lightyears from the Galactic Centre
Scientific modeling: The motions of stars within the disc show a wave-like behavior consistent with a traveling ripple
Mexican wave: The phenomenon is likened to a 'Mexican wave' at a stadium, which researchers are observing frozen at a single moment in time
Stars studied: Researchers tracked the positions and movements of specific star types, including young giant stars and pulsating Cepheid variable stars
Gas correlation: The involvement of young stars suggests the ripple is also affecting the cosmic gas and dust from which they recently formed
Possible origin: One leading theory for the wave's unknown cause is a gravitational 'kick' from a past close encounter or collision with a dwarf galaxy
Get the full facts in our article on the huge wave rippling through our Galaxy
