Previously unknown structure discovered in the Milky Way
Astronomers from the University of Nanjing in China have noticed a structure in the Milky Way that has not been mapped to any star map. It is a gigantic lump of gas dubbed Cattail, according to the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Scientists have been unable to determine the nature of this object. It may be part of a previously unknown galactic spiral arm.
“Cattail may be the largest thread of gas in our galaxy discovered to date,” – noted the authors of the scientific paper.
The object was recognized as the most remote gas accumulation. Scientists intend to establish how it was able to form so far from the center of the galaxy.
To identify the new object, scientists used a huge spherical radio telescope with an aperture of five hundred meters (FAST). They originally looked for clouds of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI). They are commonly found in the spiral arms of galaxies like ours. By studying the differences in the light of hydrogen, it is possible to map the arms of the Milky Way from the inside.
Measurements have shown that Cattail is located 71,750 light-years from the center of the galaxy, farther than all known spiral arms. It spans about 16,300 light years in length. According to scientists, the newly discovered structure surpasses the Gould Belt, a cluster of young stars that stretches for 9,000 light years.
The scientists noted that gas filaments usually form near the center of the galaxy and are associated with spiral arms.
“It is unclear how Cattail could have formed and stayed outside the known spiral arms of the Milky Way,” they noted.
The object is likely a spiral arm. But in this case, it must repeat the deformations obtained by the Milky Way in a collision with another galaxy, and it has a different shape. Scientists intend to continue researching the object.
Earlier it became known that Italian astronomers have discovered a new star cluster. It is over 12 billion years old.
