A galactic photo shoot has captured more than 3 billion stars and galaxies in one of the biggest sky surveys ever.

The European Space Agency has released a trove of data on almost 2 billion stars in the Milky Way.

The Event Horizon Telescope has captured the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Astronomers have unveiled the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

NASA's new space telescope is in the home stretch of testing.

NASA has released a stunning new picture of our galaxy's violent, super-energized “downtown.”.

(CNN) - Our large galaxy, the Milky Way, is orbited by more than 50 other, smaller galaxies. But astronomers recently discovered that some of these galaxies were kidnapped from neighboring large dwarf galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large Magellanic Cloud, so called because it appears like a faint cloud, is also on a collision course with our galaxy. The LMC is fairly new to orbiting the Milky Way, entering our corner of the universe 1.5 billion years ago. Previously, astronomers thought it would hang out in a quiet, long orbit or speed away from the gravity of the Milky Way and move on.

freeimages.com(CNN) - Around 3.5 million years ago, a gigantic energy flare punched out from the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The flare, called a Seyfert flare, started out small near the center of the galaxy that's dominated by a supermassive black hole. Researchers believe it was nuclear activity connected to the black hole. This shows that the center of the Milky Way is a much more dynamic place than we had previously thought. "These results dramatically change our understanding of the Milky Way," said Magda Guglielmo, study co-author from the University of Sydney.

Observing and studying our own galaxy, the Milky Way, can be a bit like trying to take in the view of an entire forest while standing inside it. To understand the shape of the Milky Way, astronomers measured the distances of the Cepheids, which allowed them to create a 3D map of the galaxy. The map revealed that the Milky Way is being warped by its stars at distances more than 25,000 light-years from its center. "Our map shows the Milky Way disk is not flat. In February, a Nature study also measured Cepheids to create a 3D map of the Milky Way to show how it was warping and twisting.

Every 32 months, two new moons fall in the same calendar month, causing what is known as a black supermoon, giving us some of the best stargazing moments of the year. A black supermoon refers to the second of two new moons in the same month, according to Travel and Leisure, and that is happening this month. Heres the cherry on top: This is the peak time for the Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers. [READ NEXT: Scientists are about to put a man-made moon into orbit | Could drinking alcohol, coffee help you live longer? This study says yes | Why your first cup of coffee might not be helping as much as you'd like]Graham Media Group 2019

CNN(CNN) - So you've heard of a blood moon, and maybe even a blue moon, but what about a black moon? A black moon is basically the second new moon of the month, something that rarely occurs. The second full moon in a month is called a blue moon, and the second new moon is called a black moon. This is less common than the other type of black moon, and occurs about once a decade. A black moon is really just a new moon, the only real significance is that it's the second one.

Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, which suggests that gravity is due to the curvature of space and time, is more than 100 years old. Our observations are consistent with Einstein's theory of general relativity. It cannot fully explain gravity inside a black hole, and at some point we will need to move beyond Einstein's theory to a more comprehensive theory of gravity that explains what a black hole is." We asked how gravity behaves near a supermassive black hole and whether Einstein's theory is telling us the full story. The researchers were able to see how space and time commingled near the black hole, she said.