Explanation:
What created this gigantic hole?
The vast emission nebulaN44 in our neighboring galaxy the
Large Magellanic Cloud has a large, 250
light-year hole and astronomers are trying to figure out why.
One possibility is
particle winds
expelled by massive stars in the
bubble's interior that are pushing out the
glowing gas.
This answer has been
recently found to be inconsistent with measured wind velocities, however.
Another possibility is that the expanding shells of old
supernovas
have sculpted the unusual space cavern.
An unexpected clue of hot
X-ray
emitting gas was recently been detected escaping the
N44 superbubble.
The above image, here digitally sharpened, was taken in
three very specific colors by the
huge 8-meter
Gemini South Telescope on
Cerro Pachon in
Chile.
