Cosmic explosion in centre of galaxy releases massive gas which may create 50 million suns

Scientists have spotted a massive explosion of cosmic gas in the centre of a galaxy which has released cosmic material worth 50 million suns in the universe.

The gigantic outburst, which is known as a "gas outflow," is nearly 20,000 light-years across almost a fifth of the entire Milky Way galaxy's diameter, as per a new paper published in the journalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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The scientists discovered this strange astronomical phenomenon when it occurred in the galaxy NGC 4383, which is around 54,000,000 light-years away from the nearby Virgo cluster as the gas flowed out from the galaxy at a rate of over 447,000 miles per hour.

What are gas outflows and when do they occur?

The gas outflows take place when large amounts of gas get blown out from one galaxy into intergalactic space and they are generally driven by some energetic cosmic events like supernovae.

Such gas outflows can have a major impact on their host galaxies by regulating the formation of stars.

Through the ejection of gas from the galaxy, the outflows limit the material available for new stars which affects the growth and structure of the galaxy.

Such gas outflows also fill the space between the galaxies with the heavy elements which have been produced inside stars.

This particular outflow is said to have occurred because of huge stellar explosions near the centre of NGC 4383 that ejected major amounts of hydrogen gas as well as other elements.

As per the paper, nearly 50 million suns' worth of gas was released from these explosions.

"Very little is known about the physics of outflows and their properties because outflows are very hard to detect," said study co-author Adam Watts, who is an astrophysicist at the University of Western Australia and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), in a statement.

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"The ejected gas is quite rich in heavy elements giving us a unique view of the complex process of mixing between hydrogen and metals in the outflowing gas," he stated.

"In this particular case, we detected oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and many other chemical elements," he added.

In the research paper, the scientists have revealed a high-resolution map of the explosion through which they plan to decode the mysteries of how chemical elements have polluted thespace between galaxies, and how the loss of this gas has impacted the galaxies.

(With inputs from agencies)