New observations explain why Milky Way-like galaxies are so
common in the Universe
For decades scientists have believed that galaxy mergers
usually result in the formation of elliptical galaxies. Now, for the the first
time, researchers using ALMA and a host of other radio telescopes have found
direct evidence that merging galaxies can instead form disc galaxies, and that
this outcome is in fact quite common. This surprising result could explain why
there are so many spiral galaxies like the Milky Way in the Universe.