This is the Galactic Center Radio Arc, a long, curving structure of parallel rays that points out from the Galactic plane at the top of the featured image. It is connected to the Galactic Center of our Milky Way galaxy, by strange curving filaments known as the Arches. The bright radio structure at the bottom right surrounds a black hole at the Galactic Center and is known as Sagittarius A*.
A hypothesis for the origin of the Radio Arc and the Arches is that they contain hot plasma flowing along lines of a constant magnetic field. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory images seem to depict this plasma colliding with a nearby cloud of cold gas.
This unusual structure is still not fully understood, but it is a fascinating example of the complex and dynamic environment at the center of our Galaxy.
The Milky Way Galaxy captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared. Credit: NASA
According to a study, a decade ago the Galactic Center Arc was resolved into its component filaments revealing a distinct linear structure, attributed to the influence of a strong magnetic field. However, we have still not been able to detect the exact origin and nature of the contributing factors of this phenomenon.
However, despite this revelation, the exact origin and nature of the contributing factors have remained elusive.
Interferometric imaging of the molecular gas surrounding the Arc has provided a tantalizing clue to the Arc’s origin: the presence of molecular clumps that coincide with the endpoints of several of the Arc’s filaments. These molecular clumps seem to be the source of the relativistic particles, suggesting that as these dense molecular clumps move through the magnetic field at the Galactic Center, magnetic energy is released in their leading layers through a process known as field reconnection that results in the rapid accerlations of free charges to high energy.
In essence, it appears that the interaction between the dense molecular clumps and the surrounding magnetic field is responsible for energizing the particles observed within the Galactic Center Arc. However, further research is needed to fully understand and confirm this intriguing mechanism.
Saima Baig
I am a Chartered Environmentalist from the Royal Society for the Environment, UK and co-owner of DoLocal Digital Marketing Agency Ltd, with a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University, an MBA in Finance, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics. I am passionate about science, history and environment and love to create content on these topics.
