Previously unknown structures discovered in the center of the Milky Way

Using data from two telescopes - NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa,

researchers have put together the most completepicture of the center of the Milky Way. As a result, the scientists obtained an image that showed traces of orange, green and violet X-rays with swirls of gray radio signals.

According to scientists, this image represents an "unprecedented" view of the galactic center. It also features cryptic structures that have not been seen before.

The composite image shows X-rays (magenta, orange, and green) on top of radio emissions (gray and blue) in the center of the Milky Way. (Image courtesy of NASA)

"The new panorama of the galactic center is based onprevious reviews from «Chandra» and other telescopes,” the researchers wrote in a statement. — This latest version expands the high-energy view of «Chandra» above and below the plane of the galaxy, that is, the disk where most of the stars are located.”

NASA

Scientists have noted a streak of light in the image,which was not visible in the previous pictures. It emerges from the center of the galaxy, just below and to the left of Sagittarius A * in the image. This band of energy, designated G0.17-0.41, spans about 20 light-years and is composed of intertwined filaments of X-rays and radio light, the researchers said.

The newly discovered structure isa tangled spear of X-rays (purple) and radio emissions (blue), extending about 20 light-years. (Image courtesy of NASA / QD Wang)

Such stripes could have formed when magnetic fields aligned in different directions, collided and began to twist around each other in the process of magnetic reconnection, astronomers explain.

Let us recall that magnetic reconnection isphenomena in which magnetic field lines from different magnetic domains come together and rapidly rearrange themselves. With this magnetic reconnection of the field lines, the energy of the magnetic field heats the nearest regions of the Sun's atmosphere and accelerates charged particles to high speeds.

The image also shows radio emission inthe center of the galaxy. The two bunches of energy above and below the central plane represent strange radio structures that could have been created by a powerful burst of the galaxy's central black hole millions of years ago.

(Image courtesy of NASA / MEERKAT)

The research results were published in an article on the arXiv preprint server.

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Sagittarius A * - a compact radio source located in the center of the Milky Way, is part of the radio source Sagittarius A. It also emits in the infrared, X-ray and other ranges.