The Milky Way is not evolving as we thought: an unexpected property of the galaxy has been discovered

Previously, theoretical models suggested that elements heavier than helium and hydrogen in the interstellar medium

are mixed homogeneously and have reached the level of chemical enrichment. A similar thing happens in the Sun's atmosphere: this is called solar metallicity.

But the authors of the new work refuted this information: they found that the gases do not mix so much. This will affect previously constructed models of galaxy evolution. 

The process of nucleosynthesis - the formation of nucleichemical elements heavier than hydrogen— enriches the interstellar medium, usually consisting only of hydrogen and helium, with atoms of other heavy elements.

The authors of the new work assessed how much thisthe theory is correct: they used the atmosphere of 25 stars and studied it using two telescopes - Hubble and VLT (Very Large Telescope). In order to measure the dust content, scientists used a new method. 

In order to take into account the general ratio of gas anddust, some elements - such as iron, zinc, titanium, silicon and oxygen - were observed simultaneously. We could then estimate the proportion of metals in the dust and add it to the existing estimates to establish an overall ratio. 

Annalisa de Sia, lead author of the study

As a result, it turned out that the interstellar medium is not homogeneous. Even more - in some regions the metallicity was only 10% of the solar value.

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