Almost 13 years after their discovery, the origin of these two enormous bodies remained uncertain; there was no logical way to explain their origin and the role they had in our galaxy. Because they were discovered by the great Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope, they have received the name “Fermi Bubbles”, a name to which they do great honor, as it seems that our galaxy was playing with stellar material (gas and cosmic dust) and releasing these cumulus clouds in the shape of two giant bubbles.
Fermi bubbles
These gigantic globules are located in the center of our galaxy (as seen in the image above), you can see that they extend above and below the plane of our galaxy, spanning a length of more than 25,000 light years . Although their source is still not entirely clear, it is known with great certainty that they emit radiation of the highest energy, that is, gamma rays.
According to a recent statement from the supermassive particle detector called “IceCube Neutrino Observatory”, located in Antarctica, 10 super-high-energy super neutrinos were detected whose origin comes from the giant Fermi bubbles, which makes these objects on an even more mysterious topic.
When the high-energy particles contained in cosmic rays interact with gas and dust, gamma rays are produced that shine very brightly within our galaxy. The Fermi bubbles emit gamma rays of higher energy than the rest of the galaxy’s body.
Schematic representation of the Fermi Bubbles. Image credits: NASA Goddard
Origin of the gigantic bubbles
Fermi bubbles are believed to be closely related to the release of massive amounts of energy by the supermassive black hole (called Sagittarius A), located at the center of our galaxy. Well, it is known that, in other galaxies, black holes that absorb enormous amounts of matter expel high-energy jets.
This hypothesis is supported by the spatial orientation of the Fermi Bubbles, which extend perfectly above and below the plane, at the galactic center.
Added to this primary hypothesis, two possible origins of the energy that makes up these bubbles are suggested:
It is possible that several million years ago Sagittarius A absorbed an immense amount of matter, which was heated and due to the interaction of large physical forces (electrical and magnetic), part of that matter managed to escape from the event horizon, in particle format. of high energy that they dispersed and diluted, but preserved their energetic state until today.
The second hypothesis indicates that it is also likely that a gigantic star came too close to Sagittarius A and violently fragmented, releasing high gravitational energy particles in a single act, which led to the formation of these bubbles.
These are some of the possible explanations for this incredible phenomenon.
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