Our Solar System has a very unusual neighbor. Astronomers have just discovered a cosmic tunnel that extends hundreds of light-years into the structure of hot gas that surrounds us, known as the Local Bubble.1. A discovery that could prove to be just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger galactic network. The telescope eROSITE, the first X-ray observatory completely outside the Earth's atmosphere, has revealed the existence of this tunnel, which extends toward the constellation Centaurus.
The origin of the bubble
La Local Bubble It is not a recent discovery. Astronomers have known about it for over fifty years, when it was proposed to explain the presence of X-ray background radiation. It is believed to have formed about fourteen million years ago, when a series of supernovae swept away all the interstellar material in the vicinity, creating a cavity about 1.000 light-years in diameter.
The new discoveries
Doctor Michael Freyberg of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics showed how this structure stands out clearly thanks to the superior sensitivity of eROSITEThe wormhole shows a temperature gradient across its entire length, with the northern region noticeably warmer than the southern one.
What we didn't know was the existence of an interstellar tunnel to Centaurus, carving a hole in the colder interstellar medium.
The most intriguing finding, as mentioned, is that this tunnel could be part of a much larger network. The authors of the study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics (I link it here), suggest that it could be part of an entire interstellar network that spans the Milky Way.
Is there a connection between this cosmic tunnel and the so-called “Radcliffe Wave”?
THERadcliffe wave, discovered in 2020, is a coherent gaseous structure in the Milky Way that spans about 8.800 light-years and contains numerous star-forming regions. This wavy structure, oscillating through space-time, represents an important discovery in our understanding of the local galactic environment. Similarly, the recent detection of an “interstellar tunnel” in the Local Hot Bubble adds a new piece to this complex picture. Both of these structures, the Radcliffe Wave and the cosmic wormhole, suggest that our galactic neighborhood is much more dynamic and interconnected than previously thought, revealing a network of large-scale structures that could influence star formation and the evolution of our galaxy.
Cosmic Tunnel, Future Implications
The observed temperature differences suggest that there may have been more recent supernovae that expanded the bubble and heated its material, perhaps in the last few million years. A discovery that not only enriches our understanding of the cosmic neighborhood, but opens new perspectives on the structures that connect the different regions of our galaxy. This discovery may be just the beginning of a new understanding of the structure of our galaxy and the mysterious corridors that cross it.
