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Astronomers have discovered a huge cavity in the Milky Way galaxy that is believed to have formed after a stellar explosion millions of years ago.
The bubble-shaped void is 500 light years wide and is located between star formation regions in the constellations of Perseus and Taurus, reports a new study.
Star-forming gas and dust clusters, known as molecular clouds, are believed to have formed in tandem from the same supernova, or explosion of a star that reached the end of its life, about 10 million years ago. The new discovery could shed light on how supernovas generate star formation, study team members said.
Related: Supernova photos – Stunning images of star explosions
“Hundreds of stars are forming or already exist on the surface of this giant bubble”, lead author of the study Shmuel Bialy, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics ( CfA), said in a press release.
“We have two theories – either a supernova was triggered in the heart of this bubble and pushed the gas outward, forming what we now call the ‘Perseus-Taurus supercoque’, or a series of supernovae occurring on millions of years created it over time, ”Bialy said.
Use of European Space Agency star mapping data Gaia spaceship, researchers were able to map Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds in 3D for the first time, revealing the massive void that remained elusive in previous 2D maps of the region.
“We could see these clouds for decades, but we never knew their true shape, depth or thickness. We also didn’t know how far away the clouds were,” co-author Catherine Zucker , postdoctoral researcher at CfA, said in the statement. “Now we know where they are with only 1% uncertainty, which allows us to discern this void between them.”
The team created 3D molecular cloud maps using a data visualization software called Glue, founded by Alyssa Goodman, CfA astronomer and co-author of the study. The team mapped regions of star formation to better understand how gas and dust released in a stellar explosion reorganizes in molecular clouds to form new stars. Their findings suggest that the molecular clouds of Perseus and Taurus formed as a result of the same supernova shock wave, demonstrating the powerful effects of such stellar explosions.
“This demonstrates that when a star dies, its supernova generates a chain of events that can ultimately lead to the birth of new stars,” Bialy said.
The new study was published on September 22 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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