Hubble Solves Cosmic 'Whodunit' with Interstellar Forensics

Called the Leading Arm, this arching collection of gas connects the Magellanic Clouds to the Milky Way. Roughly half the size of our galaxy, this structure is thought to be about 1 or 2 billion years old. Its name comes from the fact that it’s leading the motion of the Magellanic Clouds.

The enormous concentration of gas is being devoured by the Milky Way and feeding new star birth in our galaxy. But which dwarf galaxy is doing the pulling, and whose gas is now being feasted upon? After years of debate, scientists now have the answer to this “whodunit” mystery.

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Credits: Nidever et al/NRAO/AUI/NSF/Mellinger/Leiden-Argentine-Bonn/LAB Survey/Parkes Obs/Westerbork Obs/Arecibo Obs/Feild/STScI/NASA/ESA/A. Fox/STScI

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds gravitationally tug at each other, and one of them has pulled out a huge amount of gas from its companion. This shredded and fragmented gas, called the Leading Arm, is being devoured by the Milky Way and is feeding new star birth in our galaxy. Using Hubble data, scientists have now solved which dwarf galaxy is doing the pulling.

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The most detailed views ever captured in ultraviolet light of the the two closest major galaxies to our own - the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.