---
title: "New NASA Measurements: Milky Way Galaxy Is “On the Beefier Side”"
description: "New data collected by NASA, using two space telescopes, shows that the vast majority of our galaxy's mass is dark matter."
date: "2019-03-09"
modified: "2019-03-09"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-milky-way-beefier-side"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "dark matter"
  - "galaxy"
  - "milky way"
  - "the digest"
---

# New NASA Measurements: Milky Way Galaxy Is “On the Beefier Side”

![New data collected by NASA, using two space telescopes, shows that the vast majority of our galaxy's mass is dark matter.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/nasa-milky-way-beefier-side.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Dad Bod

NASA performed a new measurement of the mass of the Milky Way galaxy using the Hubble and Gaia space telescopes. Not only do the new measurements show that our home galaxy is bigger than many of its peers, but also that the overwhelming majority of that weight is invisible dark matter — opening up tantalizing mysteries about what comprises the portions of the Milky Way we can't see.

"The new mass estimate puts our galaxy on the beefier side, compared to other galaxies in the universe," reads a [NASA blog post](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/what-does-the-milky-way-weigh-hubble-and-gaia-investigate>) about the research.

## Star Weight

According to NASA's new measurements, the Milky Way weighs in at about 1.5 trillion stellar masses, meaning it has 1.5 trillion times the weight of the Earth's Sun.

The Milky way only has about 200 billion stars — plus a [black hole at its heart](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hole-milky-way>) that weighs as much as about another four million stars — which accounts for only about 13 percent of its mass.

## Dark Matter

That means much of the rest of the Milky Way's mass is something we can't see — likely a mysterious substance physicists call dark matter.

"Most of the rest of the mass is locked up in dark matter, an invisible and mysterious substance that acts like scaffolding throughout the universe and keeps the stars in their galaxies," reads the NASA blog post.

**READ MORE:** [What Does the Milky Way Weigh? Hubble and Gaia Investigate](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/what-does-the-milky-way-weigh-hubble-and-gaia-investigate>) \[NASA\]

**More on the Milky Way:** *[Scientists Found a “River of Stars” Flowing Through the Milky Way](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/stellar-stream-milky-way>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)