In one of the arms of the Milky Way, an unprecedented feature was observed

The Milky Way, our own galaxy, is in a way a mystery to astronomers. The reason is obvious: the location of the Earth, in fact, does not allow for optimal observation of the cosmic structure. There are many studies, and this was done recently You selected a feature that was not recognized before from our galaxy.

it’s sta Notice a kind of “head” emerging from one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way; Spanning about 3,000 light-years across, this is the first large structure ever discovered – at least in our galaxy – with an orientation completely different from that of the arm. In this “advice” there are many young stars and gas clouds.

To get a 3D view of the arm portion, the insiders used the latest data from the Gaia mission inESA (European Space Agency) To accurately measure distances to stars.

“Most models of the Milky Way suggest that the arc arm forms a spiral with an angle of inclination of about 12 degrees, but the structure we examined actually protrudes at an angle of about 60 degrees.said Michael Kuhn, an astrophysicist at Caltech and lead author of the new article published in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Similar structures come Also called “spurs” or “feathers” It has been found protruding from the arms of other spiral galaxies. For decades, astronomers have wondered If even the Milky Way was something like this…and we finally know the answer.

Researchers say stars are found in the arm spur, most likely It was formed at the same time as the others in the Milky Way. “This reminds us that there is a lot of uncertainty about the large-scale structure of the Milky Way, and we need to look at the details if we want to understand that bigger picture.One of the research co-authors, Robert Benjamin, an astrophysicist at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, said.