NASA
When astronomers look toward the middle of the Milky Way, they see massive structures that are commonly called bones due to their appearance. There are 20 of these structures known so far, though more may still lie hidden.
The bones are a type of giant molecular filament (GMF), which are the densest areas of the spiral arms of the galaxy, and where high-mass stars are formed, according to a recent paper.
One of these bones, which is called the Galactic Center Snake, is 230 light-years long and stands out among the rest because it appears to be broken in two places. The two points where it is ‘broken’ are called the major and minor kinks.
A team of astronomers looked at this structure using instruments to analyze it in both radio and X-ray scans, and they found something unusual right at the location of the fractures, which might explain how and why the breaks occurred.
They published their findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The proposed explanation is that there was likely a pulsar, which is a highly magnetized neutron star. The evidence points toward the pulsar crashing through the filament with an estimated speed between 1.6 and 3.2 million kilometers per hour (1-2 million MPH). This collision would have been able to disrupt the magnetic field within the filament and cause protons and electrons to be accelerated, causing the unusual radio signals.
NASA
The team explained further, saying:
“The radio luminosity and steep spectrum of the compact source are consistent with a pulsar. We also show flattening of the spectrum and enhanced synchrotron emissivity away from the position of the major kink along the Snake, which suggests injection of relativistic particles along the Snake. We argue that the major kink is created by a fast-moving (∼ 500−1,000 km s−1), object punching into the Snake, distorting its magnetic structure, and producing X-ray emission. X-ray emission pinpoints an active acceleration site where the interaction is taking place. A secondary kink is argued to be induced by the impact of the high-velocity object producing the major kink.”
Additional observation of this area of space will help to provide more data to fine-tune their theories.
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