Number 103 (Story #4), November 17, 1992 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein THE KNOWN SHAPE OF THE MILKY WAY keeps changing as new information comes to light. At a recent conference devoted to the subject, data from COBE, IRAS, Rosat, and other sources added to or modified the traditional view of our galaxy. Examples include the observation of 100-light-year-wide bubbles of hot, low-density gas and of other worm-shaped filaments of hot gas (up to 1000 light years long) sticking up out of the galactic plane. Meanwhile, COBE observations of the galactic center support an earlier assertion by Maryland astronomer Leo Blitz that the Milky Way is not a classic pinwheel but actually a barred spiral. (Science, 6 Nov. 1992.)