‘Bones’ in Milky Way could help map galactic structure

Gas tendrils trace location of spiral arms, study finds

galactic skeleton

BARING BONES  One of six bone candidates, seen silhouetted in this Spitzer Space Telescope image, lies about 11,000 light-years away; it is roughly 140 light-years long and 0.52 light-years wide. 

JPL-Caltech/NASA,  Univ. of Wisconsin

A galactic skeleton of dark interstellar gas tendrils might help map the scaffolding of our galaxy, a new study suggests.