Gas cloud to collide with Milky Way
Posted: Tue, Jan 15, 2008, 7:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
A massive cloud of gas is on a collision course with the Milky Way galaxy and will trigger a new round of star formation when it arrives, astronomers reported last week. The cloud, called Smith's Cloud, is 11,000 light-years long and 2,500 light-years wide, and is on a path that will collide with our galaxy in 20 to 40 million years, according to research by NRAO astronomers. That collision will trigger a round of star formation, much of it supergiant stars that will live for only a few million years before going supernova. The region of the collision is about 90 degrees ahead of the Sun in the plane of the galaxy.
A massive cloud of gas is on a collision course with the Milky Way galaxy and will trigger a new round of star formation when it arrives, astronomers reported last week. The cloud, called Smith's Cloud, is 11,000 light-years long and 2,500 light-years wide, and is on a path that will collide with our galaxy in 20 to 40 million years, according to research by NRAO astronomers. That collision will trigger a round of star formation, much of it supergiant stars that will live for only a few million years before going supernova. The region of the collision is about 90 degrees ahead of the Sun in the plane of the galaxy.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force picks 14 companies for GEO surveillance program
Posted: Sat, Apr 11 10:34 AM ET (1434 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, April 19
India’s space odyssey: ISRO unveils ambitious roadmap toward 2040 Lunar mission
The New Indian Express — 10:43 am ET (1443 GMT) ISRO delayed LVM3-M6 flight by 41 seconds to avoid potential collision
News9live — 10:43 am ET (1443 GMT) The Little Probe That Could: Why Voyager 1 Matters, and Why NASA Just Switched Part of It Off
NPR — 10:41 am ET (1441 GMT) Who will be the next person to walk on the moon?
The Daily Mail — 10:41 am ET (1441 GMT) Psychologists explain why Artemis II captivated people worldwide
Houston Chronicle — 10:39 am ET (1439 GMT) |
