Hubblecast Light 117
Hubble & Gaia weigh the Milky Way
The mass of the Milky Way is one of the most fundamental measurements we can make about our galactic home.
Previous estimates of the mass of the Milky Way ranged from 500 billion to 3 trillion times the mass of the Sun
Now ESA’s Gaia and Hubble have teamed up to calculate the most precise measurement to date
To determine the mass, astronomers measured the velocities of globular clusters that orbit the galaxy.
The more massive a galaxy, the faster its clusters orbit it under the influence of gravity.
The measured mass of the Milky Way? 1.5 trillion solar masses.
Hubblecast is produced by ESA/Hubble at the European Southern Observatory in Germany.
The Hubble mission is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA.
Subtitles by ESA/Hubble. Translation by —