Cited by 234Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsAstrophysics and Cosmic PhenomenaGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena

Detection of large-scale X-ray bubbles in the Milky Way halo

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Predehl, P., Sunyaev, R. A., Becker, W., Brunner, H., Burenin, R., Bykov, A., Cherepashchuk, A., Chugai, N. +20 more·2020·Nature

Abstract

The halo of the Milky Way provides a laboratory to study the properties of the shocked hot gas that is predicted by models of galaxy formation. There is observational evidence of energy injection into the halo from past activity in the nucleus of the Milky Way 1-4; however, the origin of this energy (star formation or supermassive-black-hole activity) is uncertain, and the causal connection between nuclear structures and large-scale features has not been established unequivocally. Here we report soft-X-ray-emitting bubbles that extend approximately 14 kiloparsecs above and below the Galactic centre and include a structure in the southern sky analogous to the North Polar Spur. The sharp boundaries of these bubbles trace collisionless and non-radiative shocks, and corroborate the idea that the bubbles are not a remnant of a local supernova 5 but part of a vast Galaxy-scale structure closely related to features seen in γ-rays 6. Large energy injections from the Galactic centre 7 are the most likely cause of both the γ-ray and X-ray bubbles. The latter have an estimated energy of around 10 56 erg, which is sufficient to perturb the structure, energy content and chemical enrichment of the circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-020-2979-0

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  • High-sensitivity X-ray telescopes eROSITA and MAXI have detected the southern counterpart of the NPS, known as the eROSITA bubbles.

    “It was only very recently that the high-sensitivity X-ray telescopes, such as eROSITA (Predehl et al. 2021) and MAXI , have been able to detect the southern counterpart of the NPS, known as the eROSITA bubbles (Predehl et al. 2020; Nakahira et al. 2020).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Predehl et al. 2020

  • The energy density in the eROSITA bubbles is ε ≃2×10^-12 erg cm^-3.

    “Therefore, the energy density and the total energy in the eROSITA bubbles are, ϵ = nskBTs / ( γ -1) ≃ 2 × 10 -12 erg cm -3 and E th ≃ 10 56 erg, respectively (Kataoka et al. 2013, 2015; Predehl et al. 2020).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Predehl et al. 2020

  • The total energy in the eROSITA bubbles is Eth ≃10^56 erg.

    “Therefore, the energy density and the total energy in the eROSITA bubbles are, ϵ = nskBTs / ( γ -1) ≃ 2 × 10 -12 erg cm -3 and E th ≃ 10 56 erg, respectively (Kataoka et al. 2013, 2015; Predehl et al. 2020).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Predehl et al. 2020

  • The required energy and dynamical time for the 'Bipolar Hyper-Shell' were found to be ∼3e56 erg and ∼15 Myr, very close to the currently accepted values for the eROSITA bubbles.

    “The required energy and dynamical time for the 'Bipolar Hyper-Shell' were found to be ∼ 3 × 10 56 erg and ∼ 15 Myr, very close to the currently accepted values for the eROSITA bubbles (Kataoka et al. 2013; Predehl et al. 2020).”

    From The Fermi/eROSITA bubbles: a look into the nuclear outflow from the Milky Way (2024) · cites this paper as Predehl et al. 2020

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Authors
Predehl, P., Sunyaev, R. A., Becker, W., Brunner, H., Burenin, R., Bykov, A., Cherepashchuk, A., Chugai, N., Churazov, E., Doroshenko, V., Eismont, N., Freyberg, M., Gilfanov, M., Haberl, F., Khabibullin, I., Krivonos, R., Maitra, C., Medvedev, P., Merloni, A., Nandra, K., Nazarov, V., Pavlinsky, M., Ponti, G., Sanders, J. S., Sasaki, M., Sazonov, S., Strong, A. W., & Wilms, J.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE)
  • Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
  • Ioffe Institute (RU)
  • Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU)
  • University of Tübingen (DE)
  • Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT)
  • Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
Corresponding author
  • Predehl, P.
  • Sunyaev, R. A.
  • Churazov, E.
  • Merloni, A.
  • Nandra, K.
Venue
Nature
Published
2020-12-09
Volume
588
Issue
7837
Pages
227-231
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3112683134
Cited by
234
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 1
FWCI
12.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Keywords
X-ray bubbles, Galactic halo, Galactic Center, soft X-ray emission, collisionless shocks, energy injection, circumgalactic medium, North Polar Spur, eROSITA, galaxy formation

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