Milky Way

Artist's impression of hypervelocity star HE 0437-5439, which has been booted out of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

The mystery of the Milky Way’s runaway stars

A DECam image showing the bulge of the Milky Way: part of a survey of 250 million stars. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA. Acknowledgment: Image processing: W. Clarkson (UM-Dearborn), C. Johnson (STScI), and M. Rich (UCLA), Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin.

Milky Way bulge imaged in survey of 250 million stars

Durdle Door in Dorset, UK A nightscape capture of the Milky Way is a great opportunity to try your processing skills. Credit: Schroptschop / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Observing guide How to see the Milky Way

A view of the centre of the Milky Way by the Very Large Telescope. Credit ESO/Nogueras-Lara et al.

Study puts the Milky Way’s disc at 10 billion years old

A view of the centre of the Milky Way by the Very Large Telescope. Credit ESO/Nogueras-Lara et al.

Eye On The Sky Very Large Telescope views the centre of the Milky Way

A cataclysmic flare, propelled from the heart of the Milky Way 3.5 million years ago, was felt 200,000 lightyears away. Credit: James Josephides/Thorsten Tepper-Garcia/ASTRO 3D

Observations shed light on the history of our Galaxy’s supermassive black hole

Milky Way bubbles captured by the MeerKAT telescope. Credit: Oxford, SARAO

Astrophotography

MeerKAT spots Milky Way bubbles

A Spitzer Space Telescope of a region within the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Milky Way Project

Astrophotography

Eye On The Sky Spitzer Space Telescope views cosmic bubbles in infrared

An image of the Andromeda Galaxy by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.

Andromeda Galaxy’s last meal

S5-HVS1 has been speeding away ever since its dust-up with black hole Sgr A* 4.8 million years ago. Credit: hadzi3/iStock/Getty Images, Vadim Sadovski/iStock/Getty Images.

Speeding star reveals the secrets of the Milky Way

A section of Mary's Milky Way mosaic. Credit: Mary McIntyre

Astrophotography guides

Astrophotography guide Create a Milky Way mosaic

What is the Milky Way?

An artist's impression of the Gaia spacecraft mapping the Milky Way Copyright ESA/ATG medialab; background: ESO/S. Brunier

ESA’s Gaia: mapping the Milky Way

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Astronomy star catalogues: which to use and when

A panorama of the centre of the Milky Way. Image Credit: ESO/S. Brunier

Milky Way rich in ‘greasy’ molecules