Scientists identify possible remnants of ancient galaxy consumed by Milky Way

Ten billion years ago, when the Milky Way was still young and gravitationally vulnerable, it may have consumed an entire dwarf galaxy — and astronomers believe they have finally found the bones. Twenty ancient, metal-poor stars discovered near the galactic disk share a chemical signature so distinct that researchers suspect they were born together in a single lost world, now named Loki after the Norse trickster whose true nature is always hidden. The discovery, if confirmed, would add a forgotten chapter to the story of how our galaxy became what it is — a reminder that the cosmos we inhabit w