Milky Way's Center is Venting, Astronomers Say
May 17, 2024 by News Staff
Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered an ‘exhaust vent’ funneling hot gas away from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. This vent is about 26,000 light-years from Earth and is connected to a chimney-like structure previously discovered that is perpendicular to the Galactic plane. The Chandra data show a cylindrical tunnel that helps funnel gas toward the outer reaches of the Milky Way. This result reveals how the Milky Way’s black hole may ingest and reject material.
This image shows a region near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy in X-ray and radio light. At the bottom of the image, near the center, is a brilliant, tangled knot of material that resembles a paint splatter. This is the brightest region in the image, and it contains the supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*. The lower third of the image resembles an angry firestorm. Streaks of red and orange are scattered in every direction, as if a legion of embers from a fire crackled and popped into the air all at once. Flame-like structures lick toward the center from our right. Much of the image is infused with wispy blue clouds showing X-rays detected by Chandra. At a few points, the wispy blue clouds seem to form into balls of teal colored light and are known as dust halos. They are caused by X-rays from bright X-ray sources reflecting off dust surrounding the sources. These dust halos resemble underwater lights glowing in a cloudy swimming pool at night. Rising up from Sagittarius A* in the center of the image is a pillar of blue light referred to as a chimney. This chimney of hot gas is surrounded by red clouds that are filled with stars, presenting themselves as tiny red flecks. Near the top of the blue pillar is a streak of light blue, outlined by an illustrated, gray box. This streak is referred to as the chimney exhaust vent. Just to our left is another illustrated box that shows the close-up image of the chimney vent as observed by Chandra. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Universe of Chicago / Mackey et al. / NRF / SARAO / MeerKAT / SAO / N. Wolk.
The chimney begins at the center of the Milky Way and stands perpendicular to the Galaxy’s spiral disk.
Astronomers had previously identified the chimney using X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra and ESA’s XMM-Newton missions.
Radio emission detected by the MeerKAT radio telescope shows the effect of magnetic fields enclosing the gas in the chimney.
The latest Chandra data reveal several X-ray ridges roughly perpendicular to the Galactic plane.
Astronomers think these are the walls of a tunnel, shaped like a cylinder, which helps funnel hot gas as it moves upwards along the chimney and away from the Galactic center.
More:
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/milky-way-vent-12944.html
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