PIA16024: Monstrous Cloud Boomerangs Back to Our Galaxy (Artist's Concept)


Monstrous Cloud Boomerangs Back to Our Galaxy (Artist’s Concept)

Caption:

This diagram shows the 100-million-year-long trajectory of the Smith Cloud as it arcs out of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and then returns like a boomerang. Hubble Space Telescope measurements show that the cloud, because of its chemical composition, came out of a region near the edge of the galaxy's disk of stars 70 million years ago. The cloud is now stretched into the shape of a comet by gravity and gas pressure. Following a ballistic path, the cloud will fall back into the disk and trigger new star formation 30 million years from now.

Background Info:

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target
System
Target Type Comet
Mission Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
Instrument Host Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
Host Type Orbiting Telescope
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Artwork, Color, Mountain
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2016-01-28
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/ESA/STScI
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16024
Identifier PIA16024