Mysterious cloud on collision course with Milky Way

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Monday, October 24, 2016
Mysterious cloud on collision course with Milky Way
The massive cloud of gas, known as the Smith cloud, contains enough gas to produce 2 million stars.

A mysterious cloud is heading straight towards our galaxy.

The Smith cloud, named after Dutch astronomer Gail Smith who discovered it, "contains enough gas to produce 2 million stars," according to AccuWeather. "It is one of many high velocity clouds orbiting the Milky Way."

Astronomers believe that because of the cloud's large abundance of sulfur, and the large amounts of sulfur on our galaxy's outer disc, that it originated from the Milky Way.

When it hits, "the impact will compress the gasses enough to trigger a spike in star formation," AccuWeather said. The cloud, though, won't crash into our galaxy until 30 million years from now.

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