Researchers Discover Thin Gas Between Stars in Milky Way Galaxy, Traces of Bubbles from Supernova Found

In 2022, researchers discovered thin gas floating between stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Interestingly, there are traces of bubbles that expand into space when a massive star goes supernova at the end of its life.

Quoted from the Royal Society of Chemistry page, scientists say this trace records the history of star death and the rotation of the Milky Way galaxy. The space between the stars is not completely empty.

In the cracks of space, sometimes floating gases come together in more diffuse clouds. Most of it consists of hydrogen atoms.

When the clouds are dense enough, stars are born. Meanwhile, when the star dies, it will sprinkle these clouds with elements that were forged in its core.

However, it is still not fully understood how clouds form, organize and recycle them throughout the galaxy. For this reason, a team of astronomers led by Juan Diego Soler from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) began studying the structures found in neutral hydrogen atoms that permeate Earth’s galaxy.

In his research, data collected by the HI4PI project was used. A survey that studies the sky in radio wavelengths to obtain a map of neutral hydrogen atoms throughout the Milky Way.

The survey is by far the most detailed of its kind, mapping not only the distribution of hydrogen, but also its speed. This research also combines it with a rotation model of the Milky Way to measure the distance to structures in the gas.

Using this data, the team used an algorithm commonly used to analyze satellite photos. Interestingly, they found subtle structures in the hydrogen that were impossible to identify by eye.

It is composed of a vast network of fine threads of gas known as filaments. It is near a disk that is mostly perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way galaxy.

At a distance of about 33,000 light years, the filament is mostly parallel to the galactic plane. The research team interpreted the network as traces of supernova feedback in the Milky Way gas.

(Tiffany)

2024-03-11 22:00:00
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