Astronomers Discover Hydrogen Clouds Between Nearby Galaxies, Andromeda and Triangulum

Intergalactic Clouds Lurking Between Nearby Galaxies

Intergalactic clouds between Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies. This combined graphic shows new, high-resolution GBT imaging (in box) of recently discovered hydrogen clouds between M31 (upper right) and M33 (bottom left). Credit: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF

Using the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope, astronomers detected a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33).

In a dark, starless patch of intergalactic space, astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). The researchers speculate that these rarefied blobs of gas — each about as massive as a dwarf galaxy — condensed out of a vast and as-yet undetected reservoir of hot, ionized gas, which could have accompanied an otherwise invisible band of dark matter.

The astronomers detected these objects using the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. The results were published in the journal Nature.

“We have known for some time that many seemingly empty stretches of the Universe contain vast but diffuse patches of hot, ionized hydrogen,” said Spencer Wolfe of West Virginia University in Morgantown. “Earlier observations of the area between M31 and M33 suggested the presence of colder, neutral hydrogen, but we couldn’t see any details to determine if it had a definitive structure or represented a new type of cosmic feature. Now, with high-resolution images from the GBT, we were able to detect discrete concentrations of neutral hydrogen emerging out of what was thought to be a mainly featureless field of gas.”

Astronomers are able to observe neutral atomic hydrogen, which is referred to as HI (H and the Roman numeral one), because of the characteristic signal it emits at radio wavelengths, which can be detected by radio telescopes on Earth. Though this material is abundant throughout the cosmos, in the space between galaxies it can be very tenuous and the faint signal it emits can be extremely difficult to detect.


The animation demonstrates the difference in resolution from the original Westerbork Radio Telescope data (Braun & Thilker, 2004) and the finer resolution imaging of GBT, which revealed the hydrogen clouds between M31 and M33. Credit: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF.

A little more than a decade ago, astronomers had the first speculative hints that a previously unrecognized reservoir of hydrogen lay between M31 and M33. The signal from this gas, however, was too faint to draw any firm conclusions about its nature, origin, or even certain existence. Last year, preliminary data taken with the GBT confirmed that there was indeed hydrogen gas, and a lot of it, smeared out between the galaxies. These preliminary observations, however, lacked the necessary sensitivity to see any fine-grain structure in the gas or deduce whence it came and what it signified. The most likely explanation at the time was that a few billion years earlier, these two galaxies had a close encounter and the resulting gravitational perturbations pulled off some wispy puffs of gas, leaving a tenuous bridge between the two.

New and more thorough studies of this region with the GBT, however, revealed that the hydrogen gas was not simply in the form of wispy streamers, as would be expected by the interactions of two galaxies in a gravitational ballet. Instead, a full 50 percent of the gas was conspicuously clumped together into very discrete and very massive blobs that — apart from their lack of stars — would be dead ringers for dwarf galaxies. Dwarf galaxies, as their name implies, are relatively small collections of stars bound together by gravity. They can contain anywhere from a few thousand to a few million stars.

The GBT was also able to track the motion of these newly discovered clouds, showing that they were traveling through space at velocities similar to M31 and M33. “These observations suggest that they are independent entities and not the far-flung suburbs of either galaxy,” said Felix J. Lockman, an astronomer at the NRAO in Green Bank. “Their clustered orientation is equally compelling and may be the result of a filament of dark matter. The speculation is that a dark-matter filament, if it exists, could provide the gravitational scaffolding upon which clouds could condense from a surrounding field of hot gas.”

The researchers also speculate that these clouds may represent a new and previously unrecognized source of neutral hydrogen gas that could eventually fall into M31 and M33, fueling future generations of star formation.

The GBT, because of its enormous size, unique design, and location in the National Radio Quiet Zone of West Virginia, was able to detect this signal, which was simply too faint for other radio telescopes to detect with precision. “The GBT is unique in this regard,” said Lockman.

Astronomers are also interested in these cold, dark regions between galaxies because there is a great deal of unaccounted-for normal matter in the cosmos, and a significant fraction may be contained in intergalactic clouds like the ones observed by the GBT. Further studies in this region and around other galaxies in our Local Group (the galaxies found relatively close to the Milky Way) may yield additional clues as to the amount of hydrogen yet to be accounted for in the Universe.

“The region we have studied is only a fraction of the area around M31 reported to have diffuse hydrogen gas,” said D.J. Pisano of West Virginia University. “The clouds observed here may be just the tip of a larger population out there waiting to be discovered.”

An interview about this research with Jay Lockman can be heard here.

Reference: “Discrete clouds of neutral gas between the galaxies M31 and M33” by Spencer A. Wolfe, D. J. Pisano, Felix J. Lockman, Stacy S. McGaugh and Edward J. Shaya, 8 May 2013, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/nature12082

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

3 Comments on "Astronomers Discover Hydrogen Clouds Between Nearby Galaxies, Andromeda and Triangulum"

  1. Tim Kozlof Jr | July 8, 2013 at 12:35 pm | Reply

    If M33 and M31 left a gas bridge from a close encounter. would there be one between Andromeda and the milky way if they already had a close encounter, could be the best way to find out if that did happen!!!

    • The article talks about “very massive blobs that – apart for Their Lack of stars – would be dead ringers for dwarf galaxies.”
      I guess if such a filament of gas between Andromeda and the Milky Way, maybe some gravitational lensing alters our field of vision to Andromeda that its image is changed… Isn’t it ?

  2. Madanagopal.V.C | January 31, 2014 at 9:20 am | Reply

    Sorry! It cannot be due to gravitational lensing which is possible only by an intervening dark matter, which throws a kaleidoscopic image of the distant galaxy.Here the image is purely singular and as told by the article it seems to be non-grainy Hydrogen gas most primitive. Thank You.

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