D_O_IC_R_E_D#Sun
Recent research suggests that our Sun was not born in the calm and stable region where it is located today, about 26,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy
On the contrary, it likely formed 4.6 billion years ago much closer to the galactic nucleus, in a crowded area full of intense radiation and violent interactions between stars.
Scientists from Japan, analyzing detailed data from the Gaia satellite (of the European Space Agency), created a large catalog with thousands of stars very similar to the Sun-called “solar twins”-that have practically the same temperature, chemical composition, and age.
By studying the distribution of these stars, they discovered a surprising pattern: there is a large group of them with ages between 4 and 6 billion years, occupying positions similar to that of our Sun in relation to the center of the galaxy.
This indicates that the Sun did not travel alone.
It was part of a true mass migration of similar stars that left the inner regions of the Milky Way billions of years ago and moved to safer, outer areas.
At that time, the galaxy was still forming its central bar-shaped structure, which created a kind of “gravitational wave” that helped thousands of these stars cross a difficult-to-overcome natural barrier-something that, according to simulations, would be rare for isolated stars.
The central regions of the Milky Way are dangerous for life: there is a lot of cosmic radiation, frequent supernova explosions, and clumps that destabilize planetary systems.
By migrating to the quieter “suburban neighborhood” where we are now, the Sun found much more favorable conditions, which may have been essential for the emergence and evolution of life on Earth.
This discovery, published in March 2026 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, slightly changes our view of the past of our solar system and shows that the Sun, like many other similar stars, was a “cosmic refugee” that escaped a hostile environment to find a more peaceful place in the galaxy.
Published in 03/13/2026 02h49
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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