00:03The Small Magellanic Cloud is an orbiting galaxy circling our own Milky Way, except
00:08a new study has discovered that despite having literally been the focus of study for thousands
00:12of years, it's not one galaxy, but two.
00:16Researchers say that it's all about perspective and that the second galaxy hangs back around
00:2016,000 light years behind the front.
00:23This has been hinted at before, with astronomers saying that the interstellar gas wasn't moving
00:27as it should have.
00:27They also noted that the stars were moving in strange and unexpected ways, and now they
00:32might know why.
00:33In the new study, researchers looked at data from the Gaia Survey, which maps the Milky Way's
00:37stars in three dimensions.
00:38They collated that data with other observations made by the Australian Square Kilometer Array
00:42Pathfinder Radio Telescope, which was taking readings from the Small Magellanic Cloud's
00:47gas.
00:47The researchers were then able to conclude that there were actually two separate star populations
00:51separated by thousands of light years of space.
00:54They each contained similar gas mass, however they had distinct gas signatures, and the
00:59stars moved differently as well.
01:01With the researchers adding that they line up perfectly from our perspective, making them
01:05difficult to interpret from one another by sight alone.
01:12For more information, visit www.gmail.com.au
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