A Gigantic Lane Made of Raw Material for New Stars

Our universe is full of quirks and mysteries. Many things are still unknown about it. Astronomers are constantly trying to unravel these mysteries. In this sequence, they have unearthed some such unique structures, which had not been heard of before. These formations include bands thousands of light-years away, shapes like the strings of firecrackers, and bodies releasing tremendous energy. Astronomers have recently discovered a long strip of hydrogen 55,000 light-years away from Earth. They say that this is the largest structure of our Milky-Way i.e. galaxy. This huge band of hydrogen called Magi is 3900 light years long and 130 light years wide. It was formed about 13 billion years ago. An international team led by astrophysicists from Germany's Max Planck Astronomy Institute measured this structure with the help of the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite.

Juan Soller, a co-author of this study, had found some indication of the existence of this structure a year ago. He named this structure the Magi after the longest river in his country Colombia. Initial analysis of the data made it possible to identify Maggi, but only the present study proved that it was a long band. Hydrogen was formed about 380,000 years after the Big Bang or cosmic explosion. The Milky Way was formed a billion years before that. Hydrogen is the most abundant substance in the universe. But detecting this gas is a very difficult task. In this context, the discovery of a long strip of hydrogen is very exciting.

The study’s first author, Jonas Sayed, said the location of the strip helped in this discovery. We do not yet know how this belt formed there, but it extends about 1600 light-years along the plane of the Milky-Way. Because of this, the radiation from hydrogen can be easily seen in the background. This makes it possible to see the strip. After analyzing the Maggi in depth, the scientists found that the gas comes together at some points in the belt. These are probably areas where gas accumulates and forms large clouds. Researchers believe that in such regions the molecular gas is converted into molecules. The new study is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Gaia satellite has a great contribution in finding the hydrogen belt in the Milky Way. This satellite is currently preparing a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way galaxy. During his mission, he has given many important information about its structure, formation and development. This satellite was sent in December 2013. Since then it has been orbiting the Sun at a distance of about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth’s orbit. As it travels, it is photographing the Milky Way and identifying stars in smaller galaxies that were swallowed up by our Milky Way a long time ago. Thousands of objects that have not yet been discovered are expected to be discovered during Gaia’s mission. These include planets orbiting nearby stars, asteroids that threaten Earth, and supernova explosions. This mission is expected to give new information to physical-astronomers about the distribution of dark matter (invisible matter) in space. It is believed that this matter is linked to the universe.

A second team of astronomers monitoring radio waves from the universe has discovered a mysterious object that is emitting tremendous energy. Nothing like this had ever been seen before. This rotating body was detected in March, 2018 but it has been confirmed only recently after detailed analysis of the data. This body, located about 4000 light years away from Earth, was emitting intense radiation every 18 minutes. In those moments, it had become the brightest source of radio waves, like the ‘cosmic lighthouse’, that could be seen from Earth. Astronomers believe that this is either the remains of a collapsed star or something else.

Actually, the remnants of the star can also be of two types. Either this remnant belongs to a neutron star or a small star (white dwarf star) with a strong magnetic field. Details of this discovery have been published in the journal Nature. Natasha Hurley-Walker, the lead author of this study and astrophysicist at Curtin University in Australia, said that during our observation, this body kept appearing and disappearing over a few hours. This was an unexpected event for us. Curtin University researcher Tyrone Doherty discovered this unique body with the help of the Murchison Widefield Telescope in Western Australia.

Meanwhile, a telescope image of the central part of the Milky Way has revealed about 1,000 mysterious strings that appear to be hanging in space. These strings, spanning 150 light-years, are in pairs or clumps and are spaced equidistant like the strings of a harp instrument. Astronomer Farhad Yousaf-Zadeh of North Western Universe University in the US first detected magnetic strings in the Milky Way in the 1980s. Since then there was a big mystery about their origin, now ten times more strings are visible in the new picture taken with telescope. New information will help solve the mystery of these battles.