Scientists have spotted ‘alien’ invaders in Milky Way, comprising as many as a quarter of the star clusters in our galaxy, many more than previously thought, says a new study.The report also suggests that there may be as many as six dwarf galaxies yet to be discovered within the Milky Way, besides the two that were previously found.

Previously, astronomers had suspected that some star clusters, each of which contains between 100,000 and a million stars, were foreign to our galaxy, but it was difficult to identify which ones.

The researchers’ work also suggests that the Milky Way may have swallowed up more dwarf galaxies than was previously thought.

They found that many of the foreign clusters originally existed within dwarf galaxies — ‘mini’ galaxies of up to 100 million stars that sit within our larger Milky Way.

The study is slated for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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