Researchers decipher family tree of Milky Way

Researchers have deciphered the family tree of the Milky Way. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA

Astrophysicists have reconstructed the first complete family tree of the Milky Way by analysing millions of stars.

Scientists have known for some time that galaxies can grow by the merging of smaller galaxies, but until now the ancestry of our own galaxy has been a mystery.