There is a "dark object" in our galaxy that is creating enormous holes.
It may not be made of common materials and is intangible. It might be something that has never been observed by astronomers before. Astronomers have just discovered the effects of the big object, despite the fact that we are unable to see it, despite the fact that we have not seen the item itself.
The mysterious object was described by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Ana Bonaca as "a fat bullet of something." At a Denver meeting of the American Physical Society, Bonaca demonstrated the object's existence.
The longest star stream in our galaxy, GD-1, has been found to include signs of the object that is producing holes.
Previously a globular cluster or dwarf galaxy, the galaxy has now been torn apart and stretched along its orbit by tidal forces, creating a stellar stream, which is a collection of stars that surrounds it.
The longest star stream in our galaxy, GD-1, has been found to include signs of the object that is producing holes.
Previously a globular cluster or dwarf galaxy, the galaxy has now been torn apart and stretched along its orbit by tidal forces, creating a stellar stream, which is a collection of stars that surrounds it.
The G-1 is shown in its appearance in the top photograph. The bottom image shows it how it should look. New Astrophysical Probes of Dark Matter, Ana Bonaca/GAIA.
In general, star streams should resemble a single line that has been stretched by the galaxy's strong gravity, according to Bonaca.
These gaps, which represent the primordial globular cluster before its stars started travelling in opposing directions, may now be present in this stellar stream.
The second gap in GD-1 has an unusually jagged edge, which makes it peculiar.
This region is known as the "spur" of GD-1. Not long ago, it appeared like something large had exploded into the star stream.
In one of Bonaca's presentations, a second gap and spur are shown on a detailed map of GD-1. New Astrophysical Probes of Dark Matter, Ana Bonaca/GAIA.
The stars were drawn along with whatever impacted the stellar stream with such force.
In other words, the star stream seemed to have been "hit" by a "unseen" bullet, as Bonaca put it.
This bullet's purpose is unclear to us.
It is, however, fairly large. It works fairly well. It is invisible to our senses. Did I mention how big it is?
According to Bonaca, who spoke with Live Science, "we can't link [the impactor] to any luminous object that we have observed."
It is significantly larger than a star. around one million times as massive as the sun Therefore, there aren't any stars with that mass. So, that may be ruled out. It would also be a gigantic black hole like the one at the centre of our galaxy if it were a black hole.
There are a number of theories as to what the weird object might be. According to one idea, the secondary supermassive black hole in our galaxy is to blame.
We cannot be sure that another black hole exists in our galaxy since we lack evidence for it.
Bonaca argues that in addition to the idea that GD-1 was impacted by a black hole, a significant amount of dark matter may have collided with the star stream. This does not mean, according to Bonaca, that the item is made entirely of dark matter.
She continued, "It's possible that it's a bright object that vanished and is hidden someplace in the galaxy.
Whatever it is, we are aware of its enormous scale.
According to Bonaca, "We know that it's 10 to 20 parsecs [30 to 65 light-years] across." The size of a globular cluster, roughly.
Reference(s): APS Physics, LiveScience
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