Puzzle of the Milky Way's 'superbubbles'

The Galaxy’s black hole may belch out giant bubbles after gobbling up stars

Fifteen years ago, astronomers looking through data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope noticed odd bubbles that extended above and below the Milky Way’s disc. Stretching tens of thousands of lightyears across and apparently centred on the Galactic centre, these features were recently joined by larger ‘superbubbles’, spotted in the data obtained by the eROSITA X-ray satellite. But what are they? The fact that they seem to be aligned with the Galactic centre suggests the supermassive black hole that lurks there – or the activity that happens when material accretes onto it – might be responsible. But there isn’t enough energy being pumped into the Galaxy today from this source to get anywhere close to what’s needed. Any explanation needs to account for both energetic gamma-ray bubbles and the larger…

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BBC Sky at Night United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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