14 DAY TRIAL // Astronomers have finally been able to identify the source of the Magellanic Stream, a huge stretch of gas that encircles almost half of our galaxy.
Computer models had predicted that the source of the gas was the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of the dwarf galaxies that neighbor the Milky Way, and the new study confirmed that, but it also showed that the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) contributed with material as well.
The Hubble telescope was used to determine the origin of the gas ribbon. Observations found that most of the gas comes from the smaller galaxy having been pulled away from it some two billion years ago.
But, more recently, a pocket of gas was pulled from the larger galaxy as well, merging with the older material.
Scientists found low amounts of oxygen and sulfur, similar to conditions found in the SMG two billion years ago. But they found a much bigger concentration of sulfur in the region nearer to the two dwarf galaxies, indicating that it was pulled away more recently.
"We're finding a consistent amount of heavy elements in the stream until we get very close to the Magellanic Clouds, and then the heavy element levels go up," Andrew J. Fox, who led the team of scientists that made the discovery, explained.
"This inner region is very similar in composition to the Large Magellanic Cloud, suggesting it was ripped out of that galaxy more recently," he added.