Huge Gamma Ray Bubbles Found Around Milky Way
Explanation:
Did you know that our Milky Way Galaxy has huge bubbles emitting gamma rays from
the direction of the galactic center?
Neither did anybody.
As the data from the Earth-orbiting
Fermi satellite began
acuminating over
the past two
years, however,
a large and unusual feature toward
our Galaxy's center became
increasingly evident.
The
two bubbles are visible together as the red and white spotted oval surrounding
the center of the above all sky image,
released yesterday.
The
plane of our Galaxy runs horizontally across the
image center.
Assuming
the bubbles emanate from our Galaxy's center, the scale of the bubbles is huge,
rivaling the entire Galaxy in size, and spanning about 50,000
light years from top to bottom.
Earlier indications of the bubbles has been found on
existing all sky maps in the
radio,
microwave, and
X-ray.
The cause of the bubbles is
presently unknown, but will likely be
researched for years to come.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
