Robin Shelton, a professor of physics and astronomy in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded $425,000 by NASA to use high-performance computers to simulate interactions of massive gas clouds, known as high-velocity clouds, and material within Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way. Composed primarily of neutral hydrogen, HVCs are thought to be clouds of material falling into the galaxy from the outside. Shelton’s simulations will help astronomers to understand the evolution of the galaxy and how new stars are formed.
