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Research: Bubbly structure of gas in the Milky Way

An international group of astronomers under participation of STRUC­TURES member Ralf Klessen found the imprint of the bubbles produced by the explosion of dying stars in the structure of the gas that pervades our galaxy.

Hydrogen emission in the inner part of the Galaxy showing bubbly structure in the interstellar medium. The scientists used artifical intelligence to analyse the radio data. (© J.D. Soler, INAF / Hi4Pi)

An international researcher team under participation of STRUC­TURES scientists has found the imprint of bubbles produced by supernova explosions in the structure of the gas that pervades our Galaxy. They made this discovery by applying artificial intelligence (AI) methods to data from the HI4PI survey, the most detailed all-sky map of atomic hydrogen in the Galaxy to date. The scientists analysed filamentary structures in the emission of atomic hydrogen and found that their orientation with respect to the Galactic plane changes progressively with radius, indicating a similar distribution of atomic gas as in nearby spiral galaxies. The study revealed that filamentary structures preserved a record of dynamical processes induced by ancient supernova explosions and the rotation of the Galaxy. The new results are an important step in understanding the process responsible for galaxy-scale star formation.

Original Publication:
J. D. Soler et al., The Galactic dynamics revealed by the filamentary structure in atomic hydrogen emission, arXiv:2205.10426v1 [astro-ph.GA] 20 May 2022. See also the press release of the Center for Astronomy Hei­del­berg (ZAH).


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