Smith's Cloud Is Heading Towards the Milky Way

The Milky Way may soon begin producing its final batch of stars, astronomers say. Large cloud of molecular hydrogen gas is heading its way, and it will make impact shortly. As this happens, the gas will stir up stellar formation, rejuvenating our old galaxy to some extent.

“We might be witnessing the final stages of the formation process of our galaxy,” radio astronomer W. Butler Burton explains, as quoted by Daily Galaxy. According to current calculations, the cloud will make contact with our galaxy within 40 million years.

Astronomers estimate that several tens of thousands of new galaxies will be created in the process. Most of them will be extremely massive, meaning that they will have lifespans of only a few million years. After that time, they will explode into massive supernovae.

“Our Galaxy will get a rain of gas from this cloud, then in about 20 to 40 million years, the cloud's core will smash into the Milky Way's plane,” National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) expert Felix J. Lockman explains.