2026.04.30

The Milky Way's Disk Keeps Getting Weirder

The disk of our galaxy is not flat but warped and waving

Observations from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission have revealed a giant wave rippling through the disk of the Milky Way. This image, derived from Gaia data, shows an edge-on view of our galaxy; the data points for the newfound wave are plotted in red (above the disk) and blue (below the disk). ｜ESA/Gaia/DPAC, S. Payne-Wardenaar, E. Poggio et al. (2025)

Observations from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission have revealed a giant wave rippling through the disk of the Milky Way. This image, derived from Gaia data, shows an edge-on view of our galaxy; the data points for the newfound wave are plotted in red (above the disk) and blue (below the disk). ｜ESA/Gaia/DPAC, S. Payne-Wardenaar, E. Poggio et al. (2025)

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