                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                 2019 March 5
                                      [2]
                    X-Ray Superbubbles in Galaxy NGC 3079
 Image Credit: X-ray: NASA [3] , CXC [4] , U. Michigan [5] , J-T Li [6] et al.
                      [7] ; Optical: NASA [8] , STScI [9]

Explanation: What created these huge galactic superbubbles? Two of these
unusual bubbles [10] , each spanning thousands of light-years [11] , were
recently discovered near the center of spiral galaxy NGC 3079 [12] . The
superbubbles [13] , shown in purple on the image right, are so hot they emit
X-rays detected by NASA [14] 's Earth-orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory [15]
. Since the bubbles straddle the center of NGC 3079, a leading hypothesis [16]
 is that they were somehow created by the interaction of the central
supermassive black hole [17]  with surrounding gas. Alternatively, the
superbubbles [18]  might have been created primarily by the energetic winds
[19] from many young and hot stars near that galaxy's center. The only similar
known phenomenon is the gamma-ray emitting Fermi bubbles [20] emanating from
the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, discovered 10 years ago [21]  in images
taken by NASA's Fermi satellite [22] . Research into the nature of the NGC
3079 [23] superbubbles will surely continue, as well as searches for
high-energy superbubbles in other galaxies.

                  Tomorrow's picture: strangely spotless sun

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [35] (MTU [36] ) & Jerry Bonnell [37]
                                  (UMCP [38] )
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1903/ngc3079Superbubbles_chandra_1080.jpg
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov
  [4] http://cxc.harvard.edu/
  [5] https://lsa.umich.edu/astro
  [6]
https://lsa.umich.edu/astro/people/research-scientists-and-postdocs/
jiangtal.html
  [7] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019arXiv190110536L
  [8] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [9] http://www.stsci.edu/
  [10] http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2019/ngc3079/
  [11]
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/Numbers/Math/Mathematical_Thinking/
how_long_is_a_light_year.htm
  [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3079
  [13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkgOh5jw3fg
  [14] https://www.nasa.gov
  [15] http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/
  [16] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019arXiv190110536L
  [17] http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/s/supermassive+black+hole
  [18] ap170625.html
  [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_wind
  [20] ap101110.html
  [21] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXmPxSP225Y
  [22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_Gamma-ray_Space_Telescope
  [23] ap041016.html
  [24] ap190304.html
  [25] archivepix.html
  [26] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [27] lib/aptree.html
  [28] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [29] calendar/allyears.html
  [30] /apod.rss
  [31] lib/edlinks.html
  [32] lib/about_apod.html
  [33] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190305
  [34] ap190306.html
  [35] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [36] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [37] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
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  [39] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
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