Researchers Discover a Massive Void in the Milky Way

The space between the stars is actually not completely empty, although we are not aware of it. In these dark spaces of space, there are clouds of light and not-so-light gas and dust; Except for an enormous void 700 light-years away.

Astronomers have discovered a huge gap with a diameter of more than 500 light-years between the constellations Perseus and Taurus.

It may have been caused by a massive supernova

This rather large void, called the Per-Tau Shell, is thought to have occurred as a result of at least one massive supernova explosion millions of years ago, and may have triggered the formation of stars in the constellations Perseus and Taurus.

“Hundreds of stars are forming or have already formed on the surface of this giant bubble,” says Shmuel Bialy, a theoretical astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). pushing outward formed what we call the ‘Perseus-Taurus Supershell’ today, or a series of supernovae that have occurred over millions of years over time created it. ‘ he adds.

Making a map of anything in space is quite a difficult task. This process, which can be considered quite easy when it is in two dimensions; With the introduction of the third dimension, depth, it turns into a job that requires a very detailed study. While there are several ways to do this, it is quite a painstaking task given the limited knowledge and impossibilities.

To study the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds, the researchers used data from Gaia, the satellite observatory of the European Space Agency, which has been working since 2013 to map the Milky Way galaxy in three dimensions with the most detail and highest precision possible, which gives the structure and therefore the history of our main galaxy. It is one of the most powerful tools to help us understand.

This data was analyzed using visual software called glue, which allows scientists to create interactive 3D visuals, and with the data from this analysis, astronomers created 3D maps of the gas in this and other molecular clouds.

Supernova may have triggered star formation

“We’ve been seeing these clouds for years, but we never knew their true shape, depth or thickness. We weren’t sure how far away the clouds were either,” says Catherine Zucker, another astronomer at Harvard-Smithsonian CfA. We know that they exist, which allows us to distinguish the gap between them. ‘ he adds.

According to analysis by Bialy’s team, this void, which has an almost spherical shape; It was most likely the result of a very powerful supernova explosion that emitted shock waves in all directions in interstellar space. As this shock wave expanded, it pushed and compressed the surrounding objects and eventually a spherical crust was formed.

According to the researchers, this theory will also reveal how star formation in molecular clouds might have been triggered.

“There are many different theories about how gas rearranges itself to form stars,” Zucker said. This is our first time using real – non-simulated – 3D images.”

The supernova that formed the void may also have formed the constellations Perseus and Taurus

Star formation is thought to occur as the denser region in the molecular cloud collapses and spins under its own gravity. As a shock wave from a supernova propagates into the space around this region, gas in the interstellar medium is swept away to form molecular clouds with dense regions, and then stars begin to form.

This is how the team believes Per-Tau Shell was formed. The reconstruction shows that multiple supernovae between 6 and 22 million years ago created a vacuum in the interstellar medium, resulting in the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds as well.

“This shows that when a star dies, its supernova creates a chain of events that can eventually lead to the birth of new stars. “he used the phrases.