A giant “pit” surrounded by two nebulae found in the Milky Way

A giant “crater” surrounded by two nebulae, Perseus and Taurus clouds, appeared to follow – at least – a large star eruption. This is what astronomers discovered in the Milky Way A study published in the journal Wednesday, September 22nd Letters in Astronomical Physics.

The molecular clouds of Perseus and Taurus have been explored for a long time because they are so close to Earth – 500 to 1,000 light-years away – a straw about the size of our Milky Way, 80,000 light-years in diameter.

But as they shelter stellar nurseries, the molecules that make up these clouds are formed thanks to a mixture of gas and dust. Finally, these nebulae seemed to be connected by a kind of fiber. An observation by their respective distances from our planet was later rejected.

“The funny thing about these two clouds”, Explains researcher Shmuel Bialy Astronomical Physics Center Harvard & SmithsonianThat’s it “We found them well connected, but not in the imaginary way: by a giant pit.”.

“Internal empty sphere type”

This is the first time that scientists have created a three-dimensional map of such a structure “Per-Dove Shell”, With the help of advanced computing and imaging techniques, a map of the molecular gases of the largest area above all else was drawn using data from the European Space Telescope Gaya.

We have to imagine “Internal empty sphere type”Mr. According to Bialy, a “Super Bubble”, As it is called, is about 500 light-years (about 4.7 million billion km) in diameter, and its outer shell is partly formed by two clouds of Perseus and Taurus.

The inside of the pit is actually a little dusty, “But with a much lower density compared to clouds”Cosmologist and astronomer Torsten Enslin, associate professor at the German Max-Blanc Institute for Astronomical Physics and co-signer of the study with Schmidt Bialy. In 2019 and 2020, he was one of the first scientists to create the first 3D map of the closest dust clouds from our sun. Also, thanks to Gaya’s data on the status and characteristics of more than 5 million of these stars “Suburban” The sun.

And this is Mr. Bialy, a colleague, postgraduate physician and astronomer of Catherine Zucker, signed a second study on Wednesday to explain how scientists put this map to good use.

“This is the first time we have used real 3D scenes, not simulations, to compare theory with observation and evaluate which theories work best.” To explain where this giant crater and the clouds on its surface come from, He said in a statement from Center for Astronomy.

“We think it’s a supernova, which pushed these gases away due to a huge explosion and created these clouds.”, Says Biali, whose study suggests several supernova scenarios. According to this theory, one or more stars explode at the end of their lives, gradually pushing back most of the gas they bathed in to form this crater, between 6 million and 22 million years ago.

“Today we are taking care of the pit in its last phase and it has already sunk [son expansion], And allowed clouds to form “ Perseus and M. of Taurus. Says Biali. He now wants to focus on the young people of the rising stars there.

According to Professor Enslin, he expects “Discovery of many structures” Like the per-down shell. “This bubble is probably just one of the others”, He explains, despite its size, it occupies a small space on the 3D map produced by his department. It is there to examine and baptize.