New study challenges traditional shape of Milky Way.
Recent measurements conducted by a team of astronomers suggest that the shape of the Milky Way galaxy may need to be revised. The traditional portrayal of the Milky Way depicted it as an outlier with four major arms extending from a central bulge. However, a comprehensive analysis conducted by a team of astronomers affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggests that the Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with two primary arms extending from a dense central bar. The outskirts of our galaxy harbor distant and fragmented irregular arms that do not connect to the central bulge where the majority of stars are concentrated.