Canberra, Oct 30 (IANS) A dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way called the Small Magellanic Cloud is slowly dying from gradual loss of energy to form stars, said a study by Australian astronomers published on Tuesday.
It is likely to eventually be gobbled up by our Milky Way, scientists said.
"Galaxies that stop forming stars gradually fade away into oblivion. It's sort of a slow death for a galaxy if it loses all of its gas," said lead researcher Naomi McClure-Griffiths of the Australian National University (ANU).
Using the SKA Pathfinder radio telescopesthe scientists were able to observe a powerful outflow of hydrogen gas from the Small Magellanic Cloud which is 200,000 light years away, Efe news reported.
The loss of this gas -- the main element of the Universe and in stars