[The Epoch Times, March 24, 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Lin Qianyu in Hsinchu, Taiwan)Tsinghua UniversityAssistant Professor Yang Xiangyi of the Institute of Astronomy and an international team used advanced computer simulations to confirm what astronomers observed in the pastMilky WayTwo groups of huge bubbles – the eRosita bubble and the Fermi bubble, are actually the largest at the center of the Milky Way galaxy 2.6 million years agoblack holeproduced by the eruption of energy, representingMilky WayAlthough the black hole is currently dormant, it is definitely not a “tame kitten”, and it did erupt actively millions of years ago.
The high-energy particles and shock waves that formed these two sets of giant bubbles are still expanding outward at an ultra-high speed of 1,500 kilometers per second, and are gradually coming towards our solar system. When we reach the earth, there will be no crisis like the movie “Don’t Look Up”, we don’t need to worry too much for the time being.” Yang Xiangyi said with a smile.
A multinational research team composed of astronomers from Tsingtao University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin has unraveled the mystery of the origin of the Milky Way’s giant bubble. This major astronomical research achievement was also published in the top international journal “Nature Astronomy” in March.
Yang Xiangyi said that in 2010, international astronomers used the Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope to discover that there are two huge bubbles in the center of the Milky Way, symmetrical up and down with the disk of the Milky Way as the center, and named Fermi bubbles.At that time, the astronomical community was arguing about the formation of Fermi bubbles, and one school thought that it wasblack holeThe other group argues that it is the galactic wind produced by the supernova explosion.
Until 2019, astronomers launched another ROentgen X-ray telescope (extended ROentgen Survey with an
Imaging Telescope Array), and soon observed two bubbles similar in shape to Fermi bubbles, but larger and symmetrical up and down, called Yirosita bubbles.
Therefore, Yang Xiangyi, who has been studying black holes for a long time, cooperated with an international team to input the latest observation data of the Erosita telescope into the computer for hydrodynamic simulation. Caused by the same black hole jet event, the inner circle of the ejected bubble is gamma rays emitted by high-energy particles ejected by the black hole, and the outer circle is X-rays released by gas shock waves.
Yang Xiangyi explained that when the black hole at the center of the Milky Way absorbs matter of 10,000 to 100,000 times the mass of the sun, only a small part is actually eaten into the area where even light cannot escape, and most of the matter will still be spit out and interact with the magnetic field. Jets outward at close to the speed of light, and push out the gas of the Milky Way, forming huge bubbles. And because the disk of the Milky Way is full of stars, which creates resistance, just like a band is tied between the bigger and bigger bubbles, two mushroom-shaped bubbles that are symmetrical up and down can be formed.
“This study gives us a better understanding of how supermassive black holes in the universe evolve and interact with other galaxies,” said Mateusz Ruszkowski, a professor at the University of Michigan who collaborated on the research. What effects do bubbles of enormous energy have on the evolution of galaxies.
Responsible editor: Tang Yin