Coherent, wave-shaped gaseous structure in the Milky Way
The Radcliffe wave is a neighbouring coherent gaseous structure in the
Milky Way, dotted with a related high concentration of interconnected
stellar nurseries. It stretches about 8,800 light years.[1][2] This structure runs with the trajectory of the
Milky Way arms.[3][4]
It lies at its closest (the
Taurus Molecular Cloud) at around 400
light-years and at its farthest about 5,000 light-years (the
Cygnus X star complex) from the
Sun, always within the
Local Arm (Orion Arm) itself, spanning about 40% of its length and on average 20% of its width.[5][4] Its discovery was announced in January 2020, and its proximity surprised astronomers.[1][6]
Formation
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Scientists do not know how the undulation of dust and gas formed. It has been suggested that it could be a result of a much smaller galaxy
colliding with the Milky Way, leaving behind "ripples", or could be related to
dark matter.[1][7] Inside the dense clouds, gas can be so compressed that new
stars are born.[2] It has been suggested that this may be where the
Sun originated.[1]
Many of the star-forming regions found in the Radcliffe wave were thought to be part of a similar-sized but somewhat helio-centric ring which contained the
Solar System, the "
Gould Belt". It is now understood the nearest discrete relative concentration of sparse
interstellar matter instead forms a massive wave.[1][2]
Discovery
The wave was discovered by an international team of astronomers including Catherine Zucker and João Alves.[8][4] It was announced by co-author
Alyssa A. Goodman at the 235th meeting of the
American Astronomical Society, held at Honolulu[9] and published in the journal Nature on 7 January 2020.[10] The discovery was made using data collected by the
European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory.[11]