New Issue: Orbital Catastrophe Ahead? Read Now

Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy

Long assumed to be a relic of the distant past, the Milky Way turns out to be a dynamic, living object

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

00

High-Velocity Clouds. Bart P. Wakker and Hugo van Woerden in Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 35, pages 217¿266; September 1997.

A Confirmed Location in the Galactic Halo for the High-Velocity Cloud "Chain A." Hugo van Woerden, Ulrich J. Schwarz, Reynier F. Peletier, Bart P. Wakker and Peter M. W. Kalberla in Nature, Vol. 400, pages 138¿141; July 8, 1999. Available online at arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9907107

Accretion of Low-Metallicity Gas by the Milky Way. Bart P. Wakker, J. Chris Howk, Blair D. Savage, Hugo van Woerden, Steve L. Tufte, Ulrich J. Schwarz, Robert Benjamin, Ronald J. Reynolds, Reynier F. Peletier and Peter M. W. Kalberla in Nature, Vol. 402, No. 6760; pages 388¿390; November 25, 1999

The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way. Cristina Chiappini in American Scientist, Vol. 89, No. 6, pages 506-515; November-December 2001.

A Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Survey of Molecular Hydrogen in Intermediate-Velocity Clouds in the Milky Way Halo. P. Richter, B. P. Wakker, B. D. Savage and K. R. Sembach in Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 586, No. 1, pages 230¿248; March 20, 2003. arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0211356

Highly Ionized High-Velocity Gas in the Vicinity of the Galaxy. K. R. Sembach, B. P. Wakker, B. D. Savage, P. Richter, M. Meade, J. M. Shull, E. B. Jenkins, G. Sonneborn and H. W. Moos in Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Vol. 146, No. 1, pages 165¿208; May 2003.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 290 Issue 1This article was published with the title “Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 290 No. 1 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican012004-4eeuCeRjgYFURfcIKNnR9c

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber

Thank you,

Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American

Subscribe