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Spiral galaxies must acquire gas to maintain their observed level of starformation beyond the next few billion years (Leroy et al. 2008). A source ofthis material may be the gas that resides between galaxies, but ourunderstanding of the state and distribution of this gas is incomplete (Shull etal. 2012). Radio observations (Braun & Thilker 2004) of the Local Group ofgalaxies have revealed hydrogen gas extending from the disk of the galaxy M31at least halfway to M33. This feature has been interpreted to be the neutralcomponent of a condensing intergalactic filament (Dav\'e et al. 2001) whichwould be able to fuel star formation in M31 and M33, but simulations suggestthat such a feature could also result from an interaction between both galaxieswithin the past few billion years (Bekki 2008). Here we report radioobservations showing that about 50 per cent percent of this gas is composed ofclouds, while the rest is distributed in an extended, diffuse component. Theclouds have velocities comparable to those of M31 and M33, and have propertiessuggesting they are unrelated to other Local Group objects. We conclude thatthe clouds are likely to be transient condensations of gas embedded in anintergalactic filament and are therefore a potential source of fuel for futurestar formation in M31 and M33.

Discrete clouds of neutral gas between the galaxies M31 and M33