Andromeda
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Structure round the Sun

The Radcliffe Wave

Also Radcliffe wave

Open in Ouranos

A long, wave-shaped chain of star-forming gas clouds near the Sun, including Orion and Cygnus.

Measured

Distance
880 light-years
Size
about 8,800 light-years across (approximate)
Position (J2000)
RA 5h 35m 09s, Dec +32.53°

How far, from the Sun

880 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light880 years
  • Voyager 1's speed15.6 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h9.5 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is about 8,800 light years long, from Canis Major to Cygnus.
  • Its crests rise about 500 light years above and below the galaxy's disc.
  • In 2024 astronomers found that it oscillates, moving up and down like a wave.

How it was found

  • It was found in 2020 using Gaia data, and named for the early women astronomers of Radcliffe College and for Harvard's Radcliffe Institute.

Where this comes from

  • Alves et al. 2020, Nature: middle anchor of the fitted wave (≈ −270, +20, 0 pc, Galactic); length 2.7 ± 0.2 kpc

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.