NewsAstronomyGalactic chaos at cosmic noon may have stunted Milky Way planet formationThat may be why the galaxys oldest stars have fewer planets than ones in our neighborhood Stars in the Milky Ways central thin disk (brightest region in this image from the Gaia spacecraft) have more planets than stars above and below that plane.DPAC/GAIA/ESABy Lisa Grossman1 hour agoThe Milky Way keeps its planets close to its chest. Stars in a thin, flat disk bisecting the galaxy have more planets on average than stars in a thicker, enveloping disk and astronomers now think they know why.Stars that currently live in the galaxys thick disk were born during a time of galactic chaos, says MIT astrophysicist Tim Hallatt. The stars violent upbringing hindered their ability to grow and retain planets, he and astrophysicist Eve Lee, formerly of McGill University in Montreal, report January 22 in the Astrophysical Journal.