---
title: "Scientists Discover “Cosmic Candy Cane” in Milky Way Galaxy"
description: "NASA just released an image of a \"cosmic candy cane\" in the center of the galaxy. The unusually shaped cloud is likely linked to active star formation."
date: "2019-12-20"
modified: "2019-12-20"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/cosmic-candy-cane-milky-way-galaxy"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "milky way"
  - "NASA"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Discover “Cosmic Candy Cane” in Milky Way Galaxy

![NASA just released an image of a "cosmic candy cane" in the center of the galaxy. The unusually shaped cloud is likely linked to active star formation.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/scientists-discover-cosmic-candy-cane-milky-way-galaxy.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Hidden Treasure

Deep within the central zone of the Milky Way, a bizarre cluster of dense gas clouds has taken the unusual form of a gigantic, cosmic candy cane.

*CNN* [reports that](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/19/world/milky-way-candy-cane-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html>) the observation may help scientists understand the process through which our [galaxy forms stars](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronomers-wrong-mlky-ways-history>) — because the cosmic candy cane, and the clouds surrounding it, contain the raw materials necessary to generate tens of millions of new stars.

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cosmic-candy-cane-1200x396.jpg>)

## Star Power

The straight part of the candy cane — which researchers call "The Sickle" — is likely the source of high-speed electrons that NASA detected with a space telescope called GISMO, according to a [NASA press release](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-gismo-instrument-maps-inner-milky-way-sees-cosmic-candy-cane>).

Scientists from the space agency [published research](<https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab451b>) in *The Astrophysical Journal* last month that connects those signals to areas that are actively churning out new stars.

"We're very intrigued by the beauty of this image; it's exotic," Johns Hopkins University scientist Johannes Staguhn, who led the research behind that new paper, told *CNN*. "When you look at it, you feel like you're looking at some really special forces of nature in the universe."

**READ MORE:** [A 'cosmic candy cane' at the center of the Milky Way could hold clues to star formation, NASA says](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/19/world/milky-way-candy-cane-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html>) \[*CNN*\]

**More on Christmas miracles:** *[Watch an Electric Eel Light Up a Christmas Tree](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-electric-eel-light-christmas-tree>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)