A Monstrous Black Hole At The Center Of Our Galaxy May Be Releasing Gigantic, Gassy Explosions And Causing Shock Waves To Ripple Throughout The Galaxy
At the center of our galaxy, there is a monstrous black hole that may be releasing gigantic, gassy explosions.
Astronomers believe they have figured out where the gas is going to in the Milky Way. According to new research, X-ray energy that is almost 700 light years away from the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way acts like a huge exhaust vent, channeling the super hot gas away from the black hole.
The X-ray energy results from hot gas in the black hole that collides with cooler gas in the surrounding environment.
The gases collide at speeds of more than two million miles per hour, causing shock waves to ripple throughout the galaxy.
The new discovery may lead to more information about the habits of the supermassive black hole and what is hidden in our galaxy’s center.
“Astrophysicists have long been interested in the movement of material and energy from the Milky Way’s center and its black hole, both to understand what’s happening in our cosmic backyard and how galaxies form and evolve,” Scott Mackey, the lead author of the study and an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago, said. “We’re really excited to find this new piece of the puzzle.”
Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, is about four million times bigger than the sun.
It is positioned in our galaxy’s center, where it devours stars, gas clouds, and other space matter that gets too close to it.
In 2019, scientists noticed two chimneys of energy around the black hole, one above it and one below.
Kittiphat – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
They both siphoned gas away from Sgr A*. The discovery inspired the researchers of this study to explore the region more thoroughly. They analyzed data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
“We suspected that magnetic fields are acting as the walls of the chimney and that hot gas is traveling up through them, like smoke,” Mackey said. “Now, we’ve discovered an exhaust vent near the top of the chimney.”
Near the top of the black hole’s lower chimney, there are bright X-rays where hot and cool gas collide.
Scientists don’t know how often Sgr A* is spewing out gas, but previous studies of the region have shown that large eruptions take place roughly every 100 years.
These chimneys of X-ray energy around the black hole may have produced some of the most mysterious objects in our galaxy—the Fermi bubbles and eROSITA bubbles.
The bubbles overlap each other and are filled with X-rays and gamma rays. They stretch about 25,000 light-years above and below our galaxy’s black hole.
The origins of the bubbles are unclear, but it is possible that powerful energy from Sgr A* is responsible. The new findings support this theory because the black hole vent lines up with the base of the bubbles.
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