Unraveling the Mystery: What is a Stellar Halo? (Milky Way's Ancient Secret Revealed!)#StellarHalo

The stellar halo is one of the most mysterious and least understood components of a galaxy. This vast, diffuse, and roughly spherical cloud of ancient stars surrounds a galaxy's central disk and bulge. Containing only about 1% of a galaxy's stars, these metal-poor, old stars offer a crucial window into the early history and formation of the Milky Way and other galaxies. Discover how these halos are thought to form from the remnants of ancient galactic collisions and mergers, and what their tilted, oblong shape can tell us about the invisible dark matter that dominates the universe. What you'll learn: The definition and location of a stellar halo. How stellar halos help astronomers understand galaxy evolution. The connection between stellar halos and dark matter. The age and composition of stars within the halo Scientific Information Sources: NASA Science, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Swinburne University of Technology Visualizations/Images: Images are artist's concepts from sources such as NASA SVS (e.g., Credit: Melissa Weiss/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, or specific source if known).. #StellarHalo #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Astronomy #Space #Science #DarkMatter #Cosmology #Universe #Astrophysics #NASA #SpaceExploration #GalacticEvolution #Stars #GalaxyFormation