Sun's Galactic Escape: From Core to a Life-Friendly Orbit
Researchers using Gaia data analyzed nearly two million stars and found 6,594 Sun-like stars around 4–6 billion years old, suggesting the Sun migrated from the Milky Way's inner regions to its current calmer orbit about 26,000–28,000 light-years from the center; the move likely occurred as the galaxy's central bar formed and accelerated stellar birth, moving many stars outward, which would have given Earth a more benign environment for life to emerge and evolve; studying solar twins helps reconstruct the solar system's early history.