What’s happening at the core of the Milky Way Galaxy? This is the first time this has been observed

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Lerato Khumalo

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), high in Mexico, recorded powerful gamma rays within seven coming from a point near the center of the galaxy. This source detected by HAWC was named ‘HAWC J1746-2856’. The research team recorded 98 gamma ray events with energies higher than 100 teraelectronvolts coming from this region. This was recorded as the strongest gamma ray emission ever observed.

“These results provide a glimpse of never-before-seen energy levels at the center of the Milky Way,” said physicist Pat Harding of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Although researchers have not been able to pinpoint the source of HAWC J1746-2856, this discovery proves the existence of extreme processes in the core of the Milky Way in which cosmic rays are accelerated and gamma rays are produced.