The similarity suggests that the two objects are dense clumps of gas that are part of a larger "gas streamer"--sort of like beads on a string, Space.com reported.
“The good agreement of the model with the data renders the idea that G1 and G2 are part of the same gas streamer highly plausible,” Gillessen said in the statement.
The new research was published online in November in the preprint journal arXiv.org and has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.