The Near 3 kpc Arm (also called Expanding 3 kpc Arm or simply 3 kpc Arm) was discovered in the 1950s by astronomer van Woerden and collaborators through 21-centimeter radio measurements of HI (atomic hydrogen). It was found to be expanding away from the center of the Milky Way at more than 50 km/s. This spiral arm contains about 10 million solar masses of gas, mostly hydrogen atoms and molecules.