A groundbreaking study of the origins of intermediate-velocity clouds (IVCs) challenges a 20-year-old theory and suggests a new era of deep-space research. Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan discovered that IVCs have much lower heavy elements than previously reported. Rather than the materials being constantly recycled like water in a fountain, their findings suggest that the particles that make the clouds originated outside our galaxy. The group published their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
IVCs are a type of interstellar cloud characterized by their velocity. They are found at altitudes of thousands of light years away throughout the Milky Way. Gas clouds are important because they are sources of elements that enable star formation and the creation of planetary systems.
In the conventional model, elements are released back into the interstellar medium when the stars die in events called supernovae. This material is then reincorporated into the gas clouds. According to this model, the heavy elements in IVCs are generated through nuclear fusion reactions and supernova explosions within our galaxy.