Picture from November 10, 2010
The Fermi satellite orbiting the Earth has, for the past two years, been gathering information on gamma ray emissions across the sky. The results, pictured here, are astounding. The Milky Way appears to have two large bubbles (the red and white splotches above and below the center of the image) protruding from its center emitting gamma rays outwards. The bubbles can also be seen to emit x-rays as well as microwaves. The bubbles span some 50,000 light years from top to bottom, a length that rivals the size of the galaxy itself. Little is known about these huge bubbles. How did they originate? What causes them? This reflects the fact that we still have much left to learn about the phenomena of our own galaxy.
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