Our solar system is located within a hot bubble of superheated gas, known as the Local Hot Bubble (LHB). Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics used data from the eROSITA All-Sky Survey to study this region. They discovered an intriguing feature – an interstellar tunnel towards the constellation Centaurus.
This tunnel may be part of a larger network of hot gas that connects our LHB to neighboring superbubbles. The discovery was made possible by the improved sensitivity and surveying strategy of the eROSITA telescope, which is 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth. This distance allows it to observe the X-ray sky without interference from the geocorona.
The LHB is a rare region of interstellar space with a tenuous, million-degree gas that emits soft X-rays. Scientists believe supernova explosions over millions of years carved out this cavity. The eROSITA data revealed large-scale temperature differences within the bubble, suggesting past supernovae heated and expanded the bubble.
However, the current understanding is limited due to observations being complicated by another massive structure above the galactic center. Further studies with the eROSITA telescope may provide more insights into the LHB.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/telescope-finds-interstellar-tunnel-within-125941294.html