1 hour ago ديسمبر 8, 2025khalid0

A fascinating new study reports that the solar system passed through the constellation Capricorn.

A deep space scene with a wispy, semicircular length of red cloud nearly as big as the constellation Orion.
A deep view of the constellation Orion the Hunter. It shows the vast interstellar clouds stretching in this direction from space. This region is known as the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex . 💡 According to a new study, scientists report that our solar system was once located within a specific structure inside those massive clouds, the Radcliffe Wave . Image via Rogelio Bernal Andreu / Wikimedia Commons ( Creative Commons 3.0 License ).
  • A journey through space: Our solar system passed through the star-forming region towards the constellation Orion approximately 14 million years ago.
  • Radcliffe Wave: We traveled through what is called the Radcliffe Wave, a gaseous structure in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, which contains stellar nurseries.
  • Climate change: This transit coincided with the transition to the Middle Miocene climate, a period of significant climate change. Interstellar dust flow likely played a role.

The journey of the solar system through the Milky Way galaxy

Our solar system (our sun and its family of planets) moves through space. As our Milky Way galaxy rotates, the sun and its planets move around the galactic center. Scientists recently reported that, about 14 million years ago, the solar system passed through a star-forming region now located in the direction of the constellation Orion. They said that as it moved through this dense region of dust and gas, some of that dust may have influenced Earth’s climate.

The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics on February 11, 2025.

Efrem Makuni, the lead author of the research paper, said in a statement:

Imagine it as a ship sailing through changing sea conditions. Our sun encountered a region of higher gas density as it crossed the radial wave in the constellation Orion.

EarthSky founder Deborah Byrd hosted this live broadcast about the constellation Orion… and our place in the Milky Way galaxy… in January 2025.

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Source: EarthSky

Sherine Gonzalez

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Sherine Gonzalez is a freelance writer who loves writing about natural history. She is also a technical editor at an astronomical observatory where she works on documenting for astronomers.