1 00:00:06,100 --> 00:00:07,540 Hubblecast Light 117 2 00:00:09,180 --> 00:00:11,340 Hubble & Gaia weigh the Milky Way 3 00:00:14,740 --> 00:00:21,700 The mass of the Milky Way is one of the most fundamental measurements we can make about our galactic home. 4 00:00:24,140 --> 00:00:31,140 Previous estimates of the mass of the Milky Way ranged from 500 billion to 3 trillion times the mass of the Sun 5 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:40,220 Now ESA’s Gaia and Hubble have teamed up to calculate the most precise measurement to date 6 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:49,960 To determine the mass, astronomers measured the velocities of globular clusters that orbit the galaxy. 7 00:00:51,740 --> 00:00:57,820 The more massive a galaxy, the faster its clusters orbit it under the influence of gravity. 8 00:01:02,620 --> 00:01:06,780 The measured mass of the Milky Way? 1.5 trillion solar masses. 9 00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:11,440 Hubblecast is produced by ESA/Hubble at the European Southern Observatory in Germany. 10 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,560 The Hubble mission is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. 11 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,040 Subtitles by ESA/Hubble. Translation by —