Inflation of 430-parsec bipolar radio bubbles in the Galactic Centre by an energetic event

Understand

The Galactic Centre contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of 4 million suns within an environment that differs markedly from that of the Galactic disk.

• While the black hole is essentially quiescent in the broader context of active galactic nuclei, X-ray observations have provided evidence for energetic outbursts from its surroundings.
• Also, while the levels of star formation in the Galactic Centre have been approximately constant over the last few hundred Myr, there is evidence of elevated short-duration bursts, strongly influenced by interaction of the black hole with the enhanced gas density present within the ring-like Central Molecular Zone at Galactic longitude |l| < 0.7 degrees and latitude |b| < 0.2 degrees.
• The inner 200 pc region is characterized by large amounts of warm molecular gas, a high cosmic ray ionization rate, unusual gas chemistry, enhanced synchrotron emission, and a multitude of radio-emitting magnetised filaments, the origin of which has not been established.