US EditionA 'mass migration' of stars from the Milky Way's center could explain why there's life in our solar system
Researchers analyzed 6,594 solar twins using Gaia data and found a mass migration of stars including the Sun from the Milky Way's center 4 to 6 billion years ago.
- On March 12, 2026, researchers reported that the Sun and solar twins underwent a coordinated outward migration from the Milky Way's center about 4 billion to 6 billion years ago.
- When the central bar formed, it likely triggered both starbirth and outward motion, as the Milky Way's central bar took shape about 4 billion to 6 billion years ago, matching the solar twins' migration.
- Using Gaia data, the team assembled an unprecedented catalog of 6,594 solar twins within about 1,000 light-years and found an age distribution peak between 4 and 6 billion years after selection-bias corrections.
- This migration history reframes theories about how and where life-friendly conditions arose, as Taniguchi said, 'The inner regions of the Milky Way are thought to be more hostile environments for life, with energetic events such as supernova explosions occurring more frequently'.
- Yet current models show the central bar's corotation barrier would block such movement, while computer simulations estimate only about 1 percent could breach the barrier, a tension the team will probe further.
24 Articles
24 Articles
See what researchers discovered by studying data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite
The Sun Was Formed 10,000 Light-Years Closer to the Milky Way Center. It Escaped in a Massive Migration of Thousands of Solar Twins
A groundbreaking study in galactic archaeology proves the Sun made a treacherous journey to reach its current home in the Milky Way suburbs.
Gaia mission data reveal that our star was not born where it is now, but migrated over 10,000 light years along with thousands of 'companies' fleeing the tumultuous and lethal galactic nucleus.
We are not alone: Our Sun escaped together with stellar “twins” from galaxy center
Tokyo, Japan – Researchers have uncovered evidence for our Sun joining a mass migration of similar “twins” leaving the core regions of our galaxy, 4 to 6 billion years ago. The team created and studied an unprecedentedly accurate catalogue of stars and their properties using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite. Their discovery sheds light on the evolution of our galaxy, particularly the development of the rotating bar-like struc…
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