Scientists have discovered something incredible—the "ancient heart" of the Milky Way! It’s a group of about 18,000 stars that are some of the oldest in our galaxy, dating back more than 12 billion years. These stars formed when the universe was young and the Milky Way was just starting to take shape. They’re located deep in the center of the galaxy, in a region astronomers had a hard time studying because of all the dust and gas in the way. Using advanced telescopes and special tools, scientists were able to peek through the cosmic clutter and find these stars, giving us a glimpse into the Milky Way’s earliest days.

Credit:

Supermassive Black Hole: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Cosmic Fossil: By ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Niederhofer, L. Girardi, https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hub...

X-ray Spots: By NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10991, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_...

Gaia: By ESA, https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorati...

PIA18928: By NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Toledo; E. Safron et al. - https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cat..., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Magnetized Threads: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT, https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/ma...

Boy oh Boy: By RAK Records, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...

Sagittarius A*: By X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; IR: NASA/HST/STScI. Inset: Radio (EHT Collaboration), https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/sa...

Milky-Way: By Evan-Amos, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...

The Milky Way Galaxy: By NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech), https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the...

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

GAIA: By DLR German Aerospace Center - https://flic.kr/p/npCLpn, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Schéma-gaia: By Pline, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Maquette de Gaia: By Pline, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

HR-diag: By Spacepotato, Rursus, Bhutajata, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Gaia: By ESA/Gaia/DPAC, https://science.nasa.gov/mission/gaia/

sky from Gaia: By ESA/Gaia/DPAC., A. Moitinho., https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Im..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

the Milky Way: By Spacecraft: ESA/ATG medialab; Milky Way: ESA/Gaia/DPAC. Acknowledgement: A. Moitinho., https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index..., https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Im...

multi-dimensional Milky Way: By ESA/Gaia/DPAC, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index..., https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Im...

OortGAIA: By ESA/Gaia/DPAC - https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/d..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Animation is created by Bright Side.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music by Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com

Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD...

Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Social Media:

Facebook:   / brightside  

Instagram:   / brightside.official  

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of...

Stock materials (photos, footages and other):

https://www.depositphotos.com

https://www.shutterstock.com

https://www.eastnews.ru

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more videos and articles visit:

http://www.brightside.me

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices