Size of Smith Cloud on the Sky

This composite image shows the size and location of the Smith Cloud on the sky. The cloud appears in false-color, radio wavelengths as observed by the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The visible-light image of the background star field shows the cloud's location in the direction of the summer constellation Aquila. The cloud is 15 degrees across in angular size – the width of an outstretched hand at arm's length. The apparent size of the full moon is added for comparison.

About the data

The HST data were taken from proposal 13840 : A. Fox and K. Sembach (STScI), F. Lockman (NRAO/Green Bank), B. Menard (Johns Hopkins University), N. Lehner (University of Notre Dame), A. Hill (Haverford College), K. Barger (Texas Christian University), F. Heitsch and D.V. Stark (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), M. Rahman (Johns Hopkins University), and R. Benjamin (University of Wisconsin, Whitewater).

The science team for these findings includes: A. Fox (STScI), N. Lehner (University of Notre Dame), F. Lockman (NRAO/Green Bank), B. Wakker (University of Wisconsin, Madison), A. Hill (Haverford College), F. Heitsch (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), D.V. Stark (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill/Kavli Institute, Kashiwa, Japan), K. Barger (Texas Christian University), K. Sembach (STScI), and M. Rahman (Johns Hopkins University).