eROSITA: Detailed map of the Universe with 9 million cosmic objects
October 1, 20243 Mins Read
Scientists have created the most detailed picture of the visible universe with the help of the Erosita X-ray telescope. More than 9 lakh cosmic objects are captured in this image. The mysterious gas bridge has been found. Astronomers from Germany's Max Planck Society have published the most detailed X-ray map of the universe. For that, a huge amount of data has been collected using the eROSITA X-ray telescope. The map features more than 700,000 supermassive black holes and millions of 'exotic' or fantastic cosmic objects in deep space. Also, strange mysterious gas bridges have been seen between the galaxies.

ROSITE

These data were collected from December 2019 to June 2020 through this project named 'Erosita All Sky Survey'. During that time, researchers detected more than 170 million or more than 170 million high-energy photon particles—which are actually X-ray photons—in the sky. Later, they identified about 9 lakh objects in the distant space. This is stated in a statement given by the researchers.

Andrea Marloni, principal investigator of the project and lead author of the paper, said: 'The number is very large for X-ray astronomy. (If you look at history, you will see) It took about 25 years to collect and analyze this amount of data in large projects like European Space Agency's XMM-Newton or NASA's Chandra. (That is) we have detected so many X-ray sources in 6 months that it is unbelievable.'

X-rays are a type of high-energy radiation. It is nothing but a variation of electromagnetic waves. But its frequency and energy is much higher than light. So we cannot see with the naked eye. Most of the X-ray radiation in space is produced by superheated gas. In addition, they may form from very massive galaxy clusters.

Cosmic X-rays can also be emitted from remnant structures created after supernova explosions (such as the famous Crab Nebula) or from the bright event horizons of active black holes. Cosmic X-rays aren't the only way to find high-energy objects. Besides, the structure of the space also emerges for their benefit.

The project's most important discovery is the superheated gas bridge spanning more than 42 million, or 42 million light-years, between some galaxies. In English it is called 'Bridge of Gases'. The comparison may not be well understood after hearing this. So let's say, the head and head length (diameter) of our Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light years. Compared to that, this gas bridge or connection bridge is about 400 times larger than the Milky Way.

Scientists believe that this connecting bridge of gas is part of the cosmic web. This highway of space is constantly giving something to all the galaxies around it. That is, this gas is used to make the planet-star system of the galaxies. It also clearly indicates the location of the true emptiness or void region of space. These voids are believed to be home to dark matter. However, this is not yet proven. Dark matter is still unknown to us, elusive.

Besides analyzing the latest data and publishing the results, the researchers of this project have submitted more than 50 research papers to various international journals. These papers, however, discuss only a small portion of the data obtained from the telescope. Researchers said that new research papers are being added regularly based on new information. More such research papers will be available in the future. Besides, there are new and more research opportunities. And without telling the last information, if we talk about the entire project, more than two hundred research papers have already been published from the information of this project.