Earth is surrounded by a huge bubble that has a width of around a thousand light years. Now, as reported by Live Science, astronomers have been able to 3D map its magnetic field for the first time.
Superbubble Makes the Galaxy Look Like Swiss Cheese
The huge structure, dubbed local bubble, is a hot, diffuse, and hollow plasma blob that is engulfed by a cold gas and dust shell along the surface where stars form. Among the many hollows that can be spotted in the Milky Way, the local bubble is just one. This makes the galaxy look like a huge swiss cheese slice.
Live Science reports how superbubbles are shock waves generated from several massive stars' death throes. In the final acts, these burst into huge supernovas that expel the dust and gas for new star formation. Over time, other stars move along the cavity remnants of such blasts.
Despite knowing about the formation of superbubbles, Eurekalert notes how scientists' general understanding of these superbubbles is still incomplete. Astronomers still do not have certainty when it comes to these superbubbles' evolution through interaction with the magnetic field of the Milky Way and when it comes to the corresponding impacts on galaxy and star formation.
3D Mapping of Local Bubble
To dig deeper, an astronomer team, conducting a summer research program in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, mapped out the magnetic field of the local bubble.
Verve Times reports how then undergraduate student Theo O'Neill shares how space is filled with such superbubbles that trigger new planetary and star formation and affect how galaxies are shaped. He notes that, through knowing more about the particular driving mechanics of the local bubble, it is possible to know more about superbubbles' dynamics and evolution.
Like other galaxies, the Milky Way comprises a magnetic field that steers dust, gas, and stars gently into structures like huge filaments that resemble bones. Astronomers are still not sure about the causes behind such magnetic field rises.
The magnetic field of the Milky Way permeates throughout the entire galaxy and in its deep external halo. This subtly affects how every surrounding thing forms. However, given how the magnetic field is weaker compared to gravitational forces and how it only functions on particles that are charged, astronomers have eliminated magnetism from the calculations. While this is understandable in the short-term, it can make them miss out on substantial effects in the long run.
Harvard astronomer Alyssa Goodman notes how it is common knowledge across basic physics that magnetic fields play vital roles when it comes to astrophysical events. However, digging deeper into these fields is greatly difficult.
To map the magnetic fields, the astronomers utilized data from the Gaia space telescope of the European Space Agency. The said telescope had inferred the local bubble's rough boundaries from cosmic dust concentrations. With this data, the specialists also focused on other data from another space telescope of the ESA, the Planck. The siad telescope revealed polarized light microwave emissions that are faint. Given how light polarization is a key giveaway on how the magnetic field acts on dust, the astronomers utilized such in connecting data points and coming up with a comprehensive 3D map.
The specialists note that, in making their map, they have made major assumptions that require further testing. Nevertheless, when they will be able to gauge the accuracy, they think that the map would serve as an important tool in studying the formation of stars across the galaxy.
Goodman notes how the map can enable specialists to probe into impacts of magnetic fields on the formation of stars within superbubbles.
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