A newly discovered and huge structure in the Milky Way was hidden right in front of us

We think of the Milky Way galaxy as having well-defined spiral arms swooping around it, starting near the galactic center and smoothly stretching to the outer reaches.

However, a team of astronomers has found a big surprise: By examining stars in a nearby spiral arm they’ve discovered a new structure that sticks out from it like an unruly cowlick, and amazingly one that contains some of the most celebrated and best-studied nebulae in the galaxy. It was hidden in plain sight all along, like find...