Researchers Discover a Massive Void in the Milky Way

Although we are not aware of it, the space between the stars is actually not completely empty. In these dark spaces of space, there are clouds of light and not-so-light gas and dust; An enormous void 700 light-years away not including.

astronomers, Perseus and Taurus among the constellations Greater than 500 light years They discovered a huge gap in diameter.

It may have been caused by a massive supernova

This rather large gap, called the Per-Tau Shell, had at least one explosion that occurred millions of years ago. big supernova explosion It is thought to have occurred as a result of the formation of stars in the constellations Perseus and Taurus and may have triggered the formation of stars.

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics(CfA) theoretical astrophysicist Shmuel Bialy, in relation to the subject “Hundreds of stars are forming or have already formed on the surface of this giant bubble” says and “We have two theories—either a supernova exploded at the very center of this bubble, pushing the gas out, creating what we call the ‘Perseus-Taurus Supershell’ today, or that a series of supernovae that occurred over millions of years eventually created it. “ he adds.

Making a map of anything in space is quite a difficult task. This process, which can be considered quite easy when it is in two dimensions; third dimension involved your depth It turns into a job that requires a lot of detailed work. While there are several ways to do this, limited information and impossible Considering that it is quite a difficult task to do.

To study the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds, researchers have been working since 2013. Milky Way galaxy working to map three-dimensionally with the most detail and highest precision possible. European Space Agency‘s satellite observatory GaiaThey used data from , which is one of the most powerful tools to help us understand the structure and therefore history of our main galaxy.

This data allows scientists to create interactive 3D visuals. glue It was analyzed using visual software called astronomers, and with the data obtained from this analysis, astronomers were able to determine the gas in this and other molecular clouds. 3D maps took it out.

Supernova may have triggered star formation

another astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian CfA Catherine Zuckerregarding the developments “We’ve been seeing these clouds for years, but we never knew their true shape, depth or thickness. We weren’t sure how far away the clouds were either.” says and “We now know where they are with only 1 percent uncertainty, which allows us to distinguish the gap between them. “ he adds.

According to analysis by Bialy’s team, this void, which has an almost spherical shape; It was most likely the result of a very powerful supernova explosion that emitted shock waves in all directions in interstellar space. As this shock wave expanded, it pushed and compressed the surrounding objects and eventually a spherical crust was formed.

According to the researchers, this theory will also reveal how star formation in molecular clouds might have been triggered.

Zucker, “There are many different theories about how the gas rearranges itself to form stars,” said and continued:Astronomers have tested these theoretical ideas using simulations in the past, but this is the first time we’ve used real – un-simulated – 3D images to compare theory with observation and evaluate which theories work best. “

The supernova that formed the void may also have formed the constellations Perseus and Taurus

Star formation is the result of the denser region in the molecular cloud. under its own gravity It is thought to be caused by collapse and rotation. As the shock wave from a supernova propagates into the space around this region, gas in the interstellar medium is swept away to form molecular clouds with dense regions, and then stars begin to form.

This is how the team believes Per-Tau Shell was formed. The restructuring shows that in thisn 6 to 22 million Multiple supernovae that took place years ago created a vacuum in the interstellar medium and also caused the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds to form.

On the subject Bialy, “This shows that when a star dies, its supernova creates a chain of events that can eventually lead to the birth of new stars.” used the phrases.