All articles tagged with #stellar ages
Researchers analyzing data from APOGEE-DR17, Gaia, and LAMOST-DR3 identify the Milky Way’s edge at roughly 40,000 light-years from the center, marking the final star-formation site beyond which only older stars remain. The outer disk shows a U-shaped stellar-age profile and breaks in the light profile, explained by star migration and bar-driven dynamics, while diffuse outer gas suggests little current star birth.
Astronomers mapped a clear boundary to the Milky Way’s star-forming disk at about 40,000 light-years from the center by analyzing stellar ages and using galaxy simulations; inside this radius star formation continues, while beyond it older stars migrated outward, creating a distinctive U-shaped age pattern.
Astronomers mapped the Milky Way’s star-forming disk by analyzing stellar ages with Gaia data and ground-based surveys (LAMOST, APOGEE) and simulations. They found the outer edge of active star formation at about 35,000–40,000 light-years from the Galactic Center, marked by a U-shaped age pattern where ages dip closest to the center and rise beyond the edge. Beyond this boundary, most stars migrated outward rather than formed in situ, explaining why older stars populate the far outer disk. This defines the true edge of the Milky Way’s star-forming region and highlights inside-out growth and radial migration as key Galactic processes.