Groundbreaking research unveils the existence of a magnetized galactic halo in the Milky Way, challenging previous models and shedding light on the complex star-forming ecosystem of our galaxy.
The Magnetic Halo of the Milky Way
An international study involving Marijke Haverkorn, Radboud university medical center, was published on 11 June in the journal Nature Astronomy and reveals a new insight into the members of the Milky Way. It has been identified as a magnetized galactic halo, which stretches tens of thousands of light-years above and below the galaxy’s disk and extends far beyond the outermost spiral arms—out to 16,000 light-years (more than 150 quadrillion kilometers) away on either side.
The new discoveries go up against models of the structure and formation of our galaxy, providing a view into some aspects of its turbulent past. The scientists conducted an extensive multi wave band survey that ranged from radio to gamma-rays, which have been used for study the aforementioned structures and confirmed their extended nature and their link with feedback processes within galaxies.
Dribbling Out The Birth Of The eROSITA Bubbles
This is one of the seeds, as the study further reveals the birth of eROSITA Bubbles that are large-scale and potentially very energetic explosions in space that originate from stars going supernova. The bubbles (detected with the eROSITA satellite onboard SRG -the Russian-German space telescope), span the sky from horizon to horizon, and offer a detailed view of the Milky Way’s magnetic halo.
These regions revealed the “magnetic fields are being organized in very uniform magnetic bubble-like structure with banal called-to-filamentary structures that soar up to a few hundred times full moon-diameters, signifying their true grandiose scale,” the researchers wrote. The temperature of these filaments is consistent with the hot winds, at 3.5 million Kelvin, that are blown out of the galactic Disk by star-forming regions.
Conclusion
The study, which is published today in The Astronomical Journal, marks an important advance in our understanding of the Milky Way. The revelation of a magnetic galactic halo offers new areas to explore as we learn more about the turbulent life of our home galaxy. This has some major implications as far as how these galaxies form and evolve, and the influence of magnetic fields on the evolution and structure of our Milky Way.
