Hydrogen Gas Clouds Discovered between Milky Way's Neighboring Galaxies

All space observers have a new mystery coming their way: a graduate student from West Virginia University has revealed a previously unrecognized huddle of gas clouds between the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies, neighbors of our Milky Way. This observation may help solve the longstanding puzzle of how galaxies continue to form stars over billions of years.

Published in the journal Nature, astronomers detected the cluster of gas clouds with the help of the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope, which measures radio waves.

The finding was produced by lead author Spencer Wolfe, a graduate student in the WVU Department of Physics, and assistant physics professor Daniel (D.J.) Pisano. They worked in collaboration with researchers from Case Western Reserve University, the University of Maryland and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Prior to this, the observations of the Local Group, a galaxy group that includes the Milky Way, showed the potential presence of scattered hydrogen gas amid the galaxies. This new study, however, offers a complete analysis to it.

"The question we're trying to answer is in what way is the Local Group and its members evolving," Wolfe said in a press statement. "A lot of people tend to forget that when they see pictures of the Milky Way that we're embedded in it. If it's evolving, we're going to evolve with it so understanding the details of how galaxies like the Milky Way can acquire new gas and keep forming stars is important."

It has been observed that portions of gas are clustered together imitating the dwarf galaxies, which are nothing but small collections of stars that are connected together by gravity. These clusters consist of a few thousands to a few million stars.

According to Pisano, it is because of the unique capabilities of the Green Bank Telescope that they could conduct this study. The telescope is a combination of sensitivity, resolution and outstanding optical design, and was highly significant for the study. No other telescope currently operating can perform work similar to the GBT.

Based on the observations, the researchers state that clouds exhibit a previously unrecognized source of hydrogen gas that could lead to the future generations of star formation.