"The Formation of the Milky Way's Bar: Insights from the Last Galactic Merger"

A new study suggests that the bar shape of the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy, may have been caused by a collision with another galaxy, specifically the Gaia Sausage, which occurred about 8-11 billion years ago. Computer simulations show that without this collision, there could have been a 2 billion-year delay in the formation of the bar. While the study doesn't prove a direct causal relationship, it strongly implies that the collision triggered the formation of the Milky Way's bar structure. Further research and sky surveys will help us better understand the dynamics of our galactic structure.