This extremity of hydrogen gas is actually the pointy end of the
so-called Leading Arm of gas that streams ahead of two irregular
galaxies called the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The fate
of these nearby galaxies, which are impacted by the Milky Way's
gravity, has been somewhat of a mystery. The new finger findings
suggest that the Magellanic Clouds will eventually merge with
the Milky Way rather than zooming past. Located about 160,000
light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is only
one-twentieth the diameter of our galaxy and contains one-tenth
as many stars. The Small Magellanic Cloud resides 200,000 light-
years from Earth and is about 100 times smaller than the Milky
Way. "We're thrilled because we can determine exactly where this
gas is plowing into the Milky Way," said research team leader
Naomi McClure-Griffiths of CSIRO's Australia Telescope National
Facility. Called HVC306-2+230, the gas finger is gouging into
our galaxy's starry disk about 70,000 light-years away from
Earth. I