• Question: Hoe old is the Milky Way?

    Asked by jabber8 to Aime, Akshat, Diana, Gemma, Judith on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      The universe is about 13.7 billion years old some the material has existed since then, just formed in different ways, the milky way is almost as old as the universe but not sure exactly how long it took fromt eh big bang to when material gathered into galaxies and stars etc.

    • Photo: Gemma Sharp

      Gemma Sharp answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Since Judith’s already told you all about the galaxy, I’ll presume you meant the chocolate bar. You did, right?

      The milky way was invented in 1923 by Frank Mars of Mars Bar fame in Minneapolis.

      Hope that answered your question, let me know if you want to know more.

    • Photo: Akshat Rathi

      Akshat Rathi answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Actually the Milky Way was created by Heracles when he was a baby. His father, Zeus, was fond of his son, who was born of the mortal woman Alcmene. He decided to let the infant Heracles suckle on his divine wife Hera’s milk when she was asleep, an act which would endow the baby with godlike qualities. When Hera woke up and realized that she was breastfeeding an unknown infant, she pushed him away and the spurting milk became the Milky Way. That was in 1264 BC.

      Btw… I am only telling you about a mythical story. 😉 The actual age of the galaxy is is closer to the age of the universe. The oldest star in the galaxy is known to be 13.2 billion years old so may be that’s how old it is.

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