Researchers confirm the existence of the elusive Magellanic Corona, a protective halo of hot, ionized gas previously known only in theory. For billions of years, the Milky Way’s most massive cosmic companions – the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds – have been on a tumultuous journey through space,
Scientists have used spectroscopic observations of ultraviolet light from quasars to detect and map the Magellanic Corona, a diffuse halo of hot, supercharged gas surrounding the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. Shown in purple, the corona stretches more than 100,000 light-years from the main mass of stars, gas, and dust that make up the Magellanic Clouds, intermingling with the hotter and more extensive corona that surrounds the Milky Way.
Nearly 200,000 light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, floats in space, in a long and slow dance around our galaxy. As the Milky Way’s gravity gently tugs on its neighbor’s gas clouds, they collapse to form new stars. In turn, these light up the gas clouds in a kaleidoscope of colors, visible in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
’s Hubble Space Telescope and a retired satellite called the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer , They discovered that the Magellanic system is surrounded by a corona, a protective shield of hot supercharged gas. This cocoons the two galaxies, preventing their gas supplies from being siphoned off by the Milky Way, and therefore allowing them to continue forming new stars., addresses a novel aspect of galaxy evolution.
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