NASA | MSFC | SAO | Chandra X-ray Observatory | 2019 Feb 28
We all know bubbles from soapy baths or sodas. These bubbles of everyday experience on Earth are up to a few inches across, and consist of a thin film of liquid enclosing a small volume of air or other gas. In space, however, there are very different bubbles — composed of a lighter gas inside a heavier one — and they can be huge.
The galaxy NGC 3079, located about 67 million light years from Earth, contains two "superbubbles" unlike anything here on our planet. A pair of balloon-like regions stretch out on opposite sides of the center of the galaxy: one is 4,900 light years across and the other is only slightly smaller, with a diameter of about 3,600 light years. For context, one light year is about 6 trillion miles, or 9 trillion kilometers.
The superbubbles in NGC 3079 give off light in the form of X-ray, optical and radio emission, making them detectable by NASA telescopes. In this composite image, X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in purple and optical data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are shown in orange and blue. A labeled version of the X-ray image shows that the upper superbubble is clearly visible, along with hints of fainter emission from the lower superbubble. ...
Detection of Nonthermal Hard X-Ray Emission from the "Fermi Bubble" in an External Galaxy ~ Jiang-Tao Li et al
- Astrophysical Journal 873(1):27 (01 Mar 2019) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab010a
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1901.10536 > 29 Jan 2019