The dark band consists of gas and dust, which dims the light from the embedded stars. It shows the circulation of atomic hydrogen. The colors suggest various speeds of the gas.
A Gigantic Lane Made of Raw Material for New Stars
Astronomers find a big filament of atomic hydrogen, a possible precursor to star-forming clouds.
It extends some 3900 light-years and consists practically completely of atomic hydrogen gas. Examining the measurements suggests that the atomic gas in this lane converges in your area to form molecular hydrogen.
This animation begins with a schematic top view of the Milky Way with “Maggies” place marked by a red line. It turns to a side view of the Milky Way and moves towards the filament. Lastly, we see the distribution of atomic hydrogen, with the determined speeds represented by various colours.
In formerly released data, they undoubtedly discovered evidence of Maggie containing molecular hydrogen at a mass fraction of about 8 %. We might be looking at a region in the Milky Way where the instant raw product for new stars is being produced. Brand-new stars could form here in the far-off future. “However, many concerns remain unanswered,” Syed points out. “Additional data, which we hope will give us more ideas about the fraction of molecular gas, are currently waiting to be evaluated.”
Recommendation: “The “Maggie” filament: Physical properties of a huge atomic cloud” by J. Syed, J. D. Soler, H. Beuther, Y. Wang, S. Suri, J. D. Henshaw, M. Riener, S. Bialy, S. Rezaei Kh., J. M. Stil, P. F. Goldsmith, M. R. Rugel, S. C. O. Glover, R. S. Klessen, J. Kerp, J. S. Urquhart, J. Ott, N. Roy, N. Schneider, R. J. Smith, S. N. Longmore and H. Linz, 20 December 2021, Astronomy & & Astrophysics.DOI: 10.1051/ 0004-6361/2021 41265.
The team includes Jonas Syed (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany [MPIA], Juan D. Soler (MPIA; Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Rome, Italy), Henrik Beuther (MPIA), Yuan Wang (MPIA), Sümeyye Suri (MPIA; Astrophysical Institute, University of Vienna, Austria), Jonathan D. Henshaw (MPIA), Manuel Riener (MPIA), Shmuel Bialy (Harvard Smithsonian Center, Cambridge, USA), Sara Rezaei Khoshbakht (MPIA; Chalmers tekniska högskola, Gothenburg, Sweden), Jeroen M. Stil (Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Calgary, Canada), Paul F. Goldsmith (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA), Michael R. Rugel (Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany), Simon C. O. Glover (Centre for Astronomy, Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Heidelberg, Germany [ZAH/ITA], Ralf S. Klessen (ZAH/ITA; Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing, University of Heidelberg, Germany), Jürgen Kerp (Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn, Germany), James S. Urquhart (Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, University of Kent, UK), Jürgen Ott (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, USA), Nirupam Roy (Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Begaluru, India), Nicola Schneider (I. Phyikalisches Institut, University of Cologne, Germany), Rowan J. Smith (Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, UK), Steven N. Longmore (Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK), Hendrik Linz (MPIA).
It extends some 3900 light-years and consists nearly entirely of atomic hydrogen gas. Examining the measurements suggests that the atomic gas in this lane assembles in your area to form molecular hydrogen. Finding private clouds of hydrogen gas is a demanding job, which makes research into the early stages of star formation challenging. That is why the current discovery of a remarkably long structure, a filament, of atomic hydrogen gas by a global research study group led by astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg is all the more exciting.
In addition to the circulation of atomic hydrogen, the colors indicate various speed varieties of the gas as determined by the observations of the THOR study.
Hydrogen is the most extensive compound in deep space and the main ingredient in the development of stars. Unfortunately, discovering private clouds of hydrogen gas is a requiring job, that makes research study into the early stages of star development challenging. That is why the recent discovery of a remarkably long structure, a filament, of atomic hydrogen gas by a global research study group led by astronomers from limit Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg is all the more interesting.
” The location of this filament has added to this success,” says Jonas Syed, a PhD trainee at MPIA and first author of the paper published today in the journal Astronomy & & Astrophysics.” We do not yet know precisely how it got there. The filament extends about 1600 light-years below the Milky Way airplane.” As a result, the radiation from the hydrogen, which is at a wavelength of 21 centimeters, stands out clearly against the background, making the filament visible.
This false-color image reveals the circulation of atomic hydrogen measured at a wavelength of 21 cm. The red dashed line traces the “Maggie” filament. Credit: J. Syed/MPIA
” The observations likewise permitted us to identify the speed of the hydrogen gas,” describes Henrik Beuther. He is a co-author of the study and heads the THOR (The HI/OH/Recombination line study of the Milky Way) observing program at MPIA, on which the information are based.
Its mean speed is determined mainly by the rotation of the Milky Way disk. “With this info and a new method for evaluating information, we handled to determine the size and distance of the filament,” says Sümeyye Suri. She is another co-author and former MPIA astronomer who now operates at the University of Vienna. “It is about 3900 light-years long and 130 light-years wide.” At a distance of around 55,000 light-years, it is on the far side of the Milky Way. In contrast, the largest recognized clouds of molecular gas generally extend “just” about 800 light-years throughout.
This image represents package in the figure with the introduction of the Milky Way. In addition to the distribution of atomic hydrogen, the colors indicate various speed ranges of the gas as measured by the observations of the THOR study. The “Maggie” filament is visible in the lower area. Credit: T. Müller/ J. Syed/MPIA
Hydrogen occurs in deep space in different states. Astronomers find it in the kind of atoms and particles, in which 2 atoms are signed up with together. Just molecular gas condenses to relatively compact clouds, which develop wintry regions where brand-new stars lastly emerge. Exactly how the shift from atomic to molecular hydrogen happens is still largely unknown. That makes the opportunity to study this extraordinarily long filament all the more exciting.
Co-author Juan D. Soler already found the very first hint to this item a year back. He named the filament “Maggie” after the longest river in his house nation of Colombia, called the Río Magdalena. “Maggie was currently identifiable in earlier evaluations of the information. However only the present research study shows beyond doubt that it is a meaningful structure,” discusses Soler, who recently moved from MPIA to the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Rome.
On closer assessment, the team observed that the gas converges at some times along the filament. They conclude that the hydrogen gas accumulates at those places and condenses into large clouds. The scientists also believe that those are the environments where the atomic gas gradually becomes a molecular form.