The Milky Way is home to stars, gas, dust, and a supermassive black hole at its center. Being in this galaxy, we have a unique opportunity to explore its components. However, this perspective also prevents us from fully understanding its structure. Recently, scientists from the National Institute of Astrophysics in Italy have made an important discovery that may change our concepts about the structure of the Milky Way. The results are detailed in a study published by Nature Astronomy.
Researchers have discovered large magnetic structures that form a galactic halo around the Milky Way. These structures are associated with the intense gas and energy leakage that occurs during the death of stars. The team used data from more than 10 sky surveys in different wavelength bands to study these structures, which extend 16,000 light-years from the galactic plane. They also found that the magnetic fields in these bubbles are very organized and form long filaments.
The study shows that these structures are associated with so-called eROSITA bubbles, hot clusters of gas discovered in 2020 using an X-ray telescope. Earlier in 2010, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected similar hot bubbles that emit high-energy gamma rays. This radiation could be caused by a supermassive black hole or supernovae star explosions.
These discoveries have become important for understanding how star-forming processes affect galaxy structure. In particular, the magnetic ridges found in this study are associated with regions of active star formation in the Milky Way. Galactic outflows also contribute to star formation, playing a key role in galactic evolution. When a star dies, the material left behind contributes to the formation of new stars.
The study also established a link between galactic outflows and the star-forming ring at the end of the Milky Way’s galactic bar. These discoveries help us better understand how our galaxy and others like it have changed over time.
We previously reported on how scientists explored giant eROSITA bubbles.
According to gizmodo.com
