article_snippet: Like more than two-thirds of the known galaxies, the Milky Way has a spiral shape.
article_snippet: At the centre of the spiral, a lot of energy and, occasionally, vivid flares are created.
article_snippet: Astronomers believe the Milky Way wasn’t always a stunning barred spiral.
article_snippet: It looks to me like maybe these patterns are following the spiral structure of the Milky Way, so these patterns may be related,’ Dr Heidi Newberg, from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, told Discovery News.