ESO/S. Guisard
It has long been assumed that our galaxy is a classic example of many of the galaxies that pepper the cosmos. That’s important, because astronomers have intensely studied the Milky Way and, with this assumption, can use what they find to inform their view of the wider universe.
But what if our neck of the woods isn’t that normal after all? It would be a big deal for cosmologists and astronomers. That question is coming to the fore because yet more observations suggest that our galaxy is an “outlier” in important ways.
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