NASA reveals artist concept of ancient Milky Way merger
New visualisation depicts a collision between the young Milky Way and a dwarf galaxy 12 billion years ago, extending the known history of our galaxy.
NASA has released a new artist’s concept depicting a collision between the young Milky Way galaxy and a dwarf galaxy known as LKH. The image, released on 17 August 2026, illustrates an event that occurred approximately 12 billion years ago, providing a visual representation of one of the earliest phases of our galaxy’s evolution.
The visualisation accompanies a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The research utilises data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to provide definitive evidence of this ancient merger. By analysing globular star clusters, researchers were able to uncover traces of the collision that had not been previously identified.
This discovery extends the known history of the Milky Way by 1.8 billion years. The findings offer new insights into the formation and development of our galaxy during its infancy, a period characterised by significant interactions with smaller satellite galaxies.
The dwarf galaxy LKH is now understood to have merged with the Milky Way during this early epoch. The study highlights the role of such mergers in shaping the structure and composition of the galaxy over billions of years.
The artist’s concept was created by Joseph Olmsted of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). The image is credited to NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and STScI, reflecting the collaborative nature of the research and visualisation efforts.
This release underscores the continued value of the Hubble Space Telescope in uncovering details of the distant past. The data analysed in the study provides a clearer picture of the dynamic processes that have defined the Milky Way since its formation.
