What is the Milky Way galaxy: Scientists reveals shock evidence Milky Way EXPANDING

The Milky Way looks to be expanding faster than the speed of sound, according to Cristina Martínez-Lombilla, a PhD candidate at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Tenerife, Spain. In a shock study presented at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Liverpool, the scientist and her associates, said newly formed stars are forming on the remote edges of the cluster. Ms Martínez-Lombilla said: "The Milky Way is pretty big already. But our work shows that at least the visible part of it is slowly increasing in size, as stars form on the galactic outskirts. “It won't be quick, but if you could travel forward in time and look at the galaxy in 3 billion years' time it would be about fiver percent bigger than today." What is the Milky Way galaxy? This massive cluster of stars which we call home is a 100,000 lightyear wide spiral galaxy, estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars. Among this mesmerising collection of seemingly infinite solar systems, scientists estimate at least 100 billion penates. The Milky Way is named after the milky colouration it appears to take when observed from Earth. In fact the name is translation of the of the Latin via lactea, which means milky circle. Approximately 26,000 light-years from the Galactic Centre of this monstrous galaxy, is our very own solar system, right one the edge of the Orion Arm. Our whole solar system is estimated to orbit the Galactic Centre at a mind-boggling speed of 828,000kmh, but even at this pace it takes out about 230 million years to complete a galactic rotation. US space agency NASA explained: “The closest galaxies that we can see without a telescope are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. “These satellite galaxies of the Milky Way can be seen from the southern hemisphere. Even they are about 160,000 light years from us. “The Andromeda Galaxy is a larger galaxy that can be seen from the northern hemisphere.” The Andromeda is estimated to sit about 2.5 million light years away from us, though astronomers estimate that in the next 4 billion years it will collide with the Milky Way – long after we are gone.