Astronomers have made the most accurate measurement ever of the distance from the Sun to the Milky Way's nearest spiral arm, known as Perseus. They estimate the distance to be about 5.86 x 1016 kilometres (around 6,198 light years), which is more accurate by an order of magnitude less than previous calculations. The result resolves a long-standing discrepancy between two different techniques for measuring distances in the Milky Way and could also help us improve our understanding of how such spiral arms form (Sciencexpress 1120914).
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