By Ron Cowen
A huge gas cloud once considered a remnant from when the Milky Way or nearby galaxies formed is, in fact, a satellite of our galaxy, new radio telescope observations indicate. Unlike most satellites of the Milky Way, the body is orbiting in the direction opposite that of the galaxy’s rotation.
The object, known as Complex H, is crashing through the outer parts of the galaxy, reports Felix J. Lockman of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W. Va., in the July 1 Astrophysical Journal Letters.