The Milky Way could be exploding stars into the far reaches of the galaxy
Simulations show that stars could be thrown into the outer atrium.
Sijie Yu / UCI
At a time of social distancing, it turns out that even our twisted home galaxy the Milky Way, follows the example and catapults his stars further away from the center.
A study published Monday in the Royal Astronomical Society’s Monthly Notices showed how hyperrealistic cosmological simulations were used as a basis for scientists at the University of California at Irvine to show how clusters of supernova – explosions of dying stars – – can cause hot suns to spread outside the Milky Way.
These simulations, which were made possible by the Feedback in Realistic Environments 2 (FIRE-2) project, not only illustrate star clouds thrown from the center of the Milky Way, but also show how the galaxy can develop and expand.
“With FIRE-2 simulations, we can create films that give the impression that you are watching a real galaxy,” said Sijie Yu, lead author of the study. in a press release. “They show us that as the center of the galaxy rotates, a bubble that is driven by supernova feedback develops, and stars form at the edge. It looks as if the stars are thrown out of the center.”
The team suggests that supernova feedback could make up about 40% of the stars in the most distant areas of the Milky Way known as the outer atrium. The results of the FIRE-2 simulations support existing observation results, which indicate that stars not only move but also form when they are launched from the center of the galaxy.
“In plots that compare data from the Gaia mission of the European Space Agency – which provides a 3D velocity diagram of stars in the Milky Way – with other maps showing star density and metallicity, we can see structures in our simulations that are similar to those created by outgoing stars, “said Yu.
According to lead author James Bullock, “these high-precision numerical simulations have shown that the Milky Way is likely to fire stars in circum-galactic space in drains caused by supernova explosions.”
So it is quite possible that the Milky Way has catapulted its stars into “starbursting” events longer than we think.
