Unveiling the Hidden Stars in the Mysterious Gas River of the Milky Way

Astronomers have discovered stars within the Magellanic Stream, a river of hydrogen gas flowing from the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to the Milky Way. Using the Magellan Baade Telescope and data from the Gaia space telescope, researchers identified 200 stars in the far reaches of the Milky Way that matched the chemical composition of the Magellanic Clouds. The discovery will provide insights into the evolution of the Magellanic Stream and its interaction with the Milky Way, as well as help estimate the mass distribution of the entire galaxy.