Hidden Loki Inside the Milky Way Signals Ancient Dwarf Galaxy
Scientists contend that an ancient dwarf galaxy, dubbed Loki, is embedded in the Milky Way and was absorbed billions of years ago. By studying 20 metal-poor stars in the galactic plane, they found chemical traces of past supernovae and neutron star mergers but no white-dwarf signatures, implying Loki formed quickly and contributed stars with mixed orbital directions—evidence of an early accretion event. The findings appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.