Mysterious Red Spot At Milky Way’s Center Moving Toward Earth

Scientists studying possible sources of energy in the Milky Way came across a red-colored feature at the center of the galaxy. According to their observations, the mysterious feature is moving in the direction of Earth.

The scientists made the discovery using the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM), a ground-based telescope in Chile. Details of their discovery were presented in a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

Through the telescope, the scientists were able to look through the cloud of dust covering the center of the Milky Way galaxy. As they observed this region, they came across a strange cosmic object at the galaxy’s center.

According to their observations, the mysterious object is ionized gas, which appears red when viewed through WHAM. The scientists noticed that it is slowly moving toward Earth’s direction.

They explained that the object appears to be moving toward the planet because it is on an elliptical orbit interior for the Milky Way’s spiral arms.

The scientists named the object the Tilted Disk due to its orientation, which appears tilted compared to the rest of the galaxy.

The scientists noted that the Tilted Disk’s collection of ionized gas could provide valuable information regarding the sources of energy that can be found in Milky Way. The Tilted Disk apparently demonstrates that there are factors in space that keep cosmic gas energized.

“Without an ongoing source of energy, free electrons usually find each other and recombine to return to a neutral state in a relatively short amount of time,” Lawrence Haffner of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, co-author of the study, explained in a statement.

“Being able to see ionized gas in new ways should help us discover the kinds of sources that could be responsible for keeping all that gas energized,” he continued.

The scientists noted that one possible explanation behind the ionized gas is the formation of new stars. According to the scientists, clouds of cosmic gas get ionized due to the emissions of nearby young stars.

“Close to the nucleus of the Milky Way, gas is ionized by newly forming stars, but as you move further away from the center, things get more extreme, and the gas becomes similar to a class of galaxies called LINERs, or low ionization (nuclear) emission regions,” Dhanesh Krishnarao, the lead author of the study, explained.