Enormous mysterious ‘cavity’ discovered in space
Scientists have discovered an enormous ‘bubble’, or cavity, in space which stretches across almost 500 light years.
The sphere-shaped void is baffling astronomers as they can’t be sure how it was formed.
Using powerful telescopes, the team at the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) at the Center for Astrophysics discovered the cavity, which lies between two well known star constellations – Perseus and Taurus.
“Hundreds of stars are forming or exist already at the surface of this giant bubble,” says Shmuel Bialy, a researcher in the team, who are currently investigating various theories on how the cavity came about and what – if anything – ever existed before it.
“We have two theories” said Bialy. “Either one supernova (an event that happens when a star reaches the end of its life cycle and collapses in on itself) went off at the core of this bubble and pushed gas outward forming what we now call the ‘Perseus-Taurus Supershell,’ or a series of supernovae occurring over millions of years created it over time.“
The team only discovered the ‘bubble’ when they were studying ground-breaking 3D maps of the shapes and sizes of nearby molecular clouds – enormous clumps of gas and space dust.
In the past scientists have relied on computer-generated simulations of how molecular clouds are formed, but with the creation of these real-life 3D maps using amazingly powerful telescopes, astronomers are now able to use pictures of the clouds, which has then helped them discover this bubble.
“We’ve been able to see these clouds for decades, but we never knew their true shape, depth or thickness. We also were unsure how far away the clouds were,” said Catherine Zucker, the researcher who led the study creating these maps.
“Now we know where they lie with only one percent uncertainty, allowing us to [discover] this void between them“.
See more here: bbc.co.uk
Header image: Remo News
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Howdy
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The cavity is in their heads..
“The sphere-shaped void is baffling astronomers as they can’t be sure how it was formed.”
They have not the slightest idea what they are even looking at, nor if it’s even real.
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Tom O
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They used “super powerful telescopes.” Is that anything like the opposite of an electron microscope? Seriously? I do find it amusing the way some articles are written. This one sounds like something you might find in a one page story in the old Popular Science type magazine, or the front page of the National Enquirer.pulp paper in the grocery stores.
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Jamesbbkk
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“Using powerful telescopes, the team at the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) at the Center for Astrophysics discovered the cavity, which lies between two well known star constellations – Perseus and Taurus.”
It is not for nothing that they have not named the place the Institute for Observations and Measurements.
About “between two well known star constellations”: Distance to Perseus. You can’t just go to one location and arrive at the constellation because the constellation is made up of stars at different locations and different distances. The nearest main star in the constellation is at a distance of 89.93 light years and the furthest main star is a distance of 1,244.90 light years. From (for the time being): http://www.universeguide.com/constellation/perseus
If all true, there is no such physical thing as a “star constellation.” It is only an apparent yet somehow constant arrangement of celestial lights visible from earth. There can therefore be no celestial object (or lack thereof) that is “between” two non-existent features.
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