The Sculptor and Ursa Minor dwarf galaxies are covered in a layer of extra stars that the Milky Way did not steal.

Astronomers long believed the gravity of our own galaxy was physically stripping these smaller neighbors apart. Recent data shows that the excess stars on the outskirts of these dwarf galaxies are actually a permanent, internal feature. This discovery contradicts the standard model where the Milky Way's tidal forces dominate the shape of nearby satellites. These galaxies likely formed through ancient mergers of even smaller star clusters billions of years ago. Understanding this history means the Milky Way is less of a galactic predator than we thought, forcing a rewrite of how local galactic structures evolved.