Scientists Solve The 40-Year Mystery of a Giant Structure Towering Over The Milky Way
Astronomers have reclassified the 'Galactic center lobe,' a structure previously thought to be a massive feature at the center of the Milky Way. New research suggests it is actually a much smaller, closer loop of material located only 6,520 light-years from Earth.
Why it matters
This discovery corrects a 40-year-old astronomical misconception, demonstrating the difficulty of measuring distances and interpreting structures in the dense galactic core.
Add ScienceAlert on Google This loop has been interpreted as a giant bubble blown from the center of the Milky Way. (Oxford/SARAO) Scientists have just discovered the Milky Way's equivalent of a giant fake mustache.
For four decades, astronomers have puzzled over a giant loop apparently ballooning out of the center of the Milky Way.
Known as the Galactic center lobe (GCL), the structure has been blamed on everything from the aftermath of a supernova to an ancient eruption from the Milky Way's core – so many competing explanations that one team described it as "a Rorschach test for Galactic astrophysics."
According to a paper led by astrophysicist Kathryn Kreckel of Heidelberg University in Germany, the Galactic center lobe is not in the galactic center, nor is it a lobe. Instead, it's a closed loop much closer to Earth, around 6,520 light-years away.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in