FOUND! SAFEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE MILKY WAY

Astronomers have searched our galaxy to identify the safest places to live. As it turns out, we’re in a pretty good spot

- Mara Johnson-Groh

If the past year has made you feel ready to relocate to another planet, you might want to look towards the centre of the galaxy. The new findings were made by a group of Italian astronomers, who studied locations where powerful cosmic explosions may have killed off life. These explosions, such as supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, spew high-energy particles and radiation that can shred DNA and kill life. By this logic, regions that are more hospitable to life will be the ones without frequent explosions, the astronomers reasoned.

“Powerful cosmic explosions are not negligible for the existence of life in our galaxy throughout its cosmic history,” said Riccardo Spinelli, an astronomer at the University of Insubria in Italy. “These events have played a role in jeopardising life across most of the Milky Way.”