Galactic Bubbles: How Black Holes Paint the Cosmos ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have studied the Fermi and eROSITA bubbles in our Galaxy and similar structures in the nearby Circinus galaxy. Using hydrodynamic simulations, they showed that jets from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) create shock waves in the circumgalactic medium. Over ~0.95 million years, bubbles form that match the size and shape of radio and X-ray observations. Synthetic X-ray images and spectra reproduce the bright edges and spectral features; non-thermal emission from jet outflows significantly adds to the emission in the central hot spot. AGN winds produce bubbles that are too spherical with a broad base, contradicting the data. The misalignment of the bubbles' axis with the galaxy's rotation axis and the properties of the hot spot rule out the star formation hypothesis. The results confirm the jet-driven model as a common mechanism for the Circinus and Fermi bubbles; AGN jet feedback may play an important role in the evolution of disk galaxies.
In a blacksmith's forge, a blast of air fans the glowing coals, and shock waves blow bubbles of hot gas. In galaxy centers, a supermassive black hole drives the same process. Its narrow plasma jets, like bellows, punch through the surrounding space and create bubbles visible in X-rays.
Astrophysicists simulated how the mysterious bubbles in the galaxy Circinus form and tested three scenarios: black hole jets, winds from an active nucleus, and starburst explosions.
Comparing virtual X-ray images with real ones showed a match even in color composition — studied through spectroscopy (splitting light into colors). So black holes act as the chief sculptors of such structures, using only a tiny fraction of their matter — yet their creations stretch for thousands of light-years.
🎯 The energy of these bubbles rivals the combined radiation of hundreds of millions of stars, yet it all comes from a region no larger than the Solar System.