New data from the Hubble Space Telescope provide definitive evidence that a small dwarf galaxy merged with the Milky Way during its earliest phases. Our galaxy grew to its current size partly by absorbing smaller galaxies, and this merger has now been dated to a much earlier time. The finding extends the known history of the Milky Way by 1.8 billion years further back than previously established. It shows that the building blocks of our home galaxy were being assembled much sooner than many astronomers had thought.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.