A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics has made a startling discovery: an interstellar tunnel through the Local Bubble, the space “cavity” in which our solar system is located. An interstellar tunnel, such as the one recently discovered in the Local Bubble, is a kind of “corridor” of less dense, cooler gas that winds through the interstellar medium, connecting different regions of the galaxy. Imagine space as an immense, turbulent ocean filled with stars, gas and dust.

This ocean has denser and cooler areas, like “mountains” of matter, and thinner and warmer areas, like “valleys.” An interstellar tunnel is like an underwater canyon through these mountains, creating a passage between two valleys. In the case of the eROSITA discovery, the tunnel appears to connect the Local Bubble, the “valley” of hot gas in which our solar system is located, to another similar bubble in the Centaurus constellation.

This unexpected revelation emerged while creating a 3-D map of the Local Bubble, a region of hot, rarefied gas that stretches a thousand light-years around our solar system. Imagine a giant bubble in the middle of space, filled with less dense and warmer gas than the rest of the galaxy. This is the Local Bubble, a cavity probably generated by supernovae explosions millions of years ago. The energy released by these explosions swept away cosmic dust, creating a zone of expanding hot gas.

A tunnel into the unknown

Using the eRosita X-ray telescope, scientists made a high-resolution three-dimensional model of the Local Bubble. While analyzing the data, they noticed anomalies in the gas temperature, which led to the discovery of a low-temperature tunnel running through the region. This “interstellar tunnel,” as it has been called, appears to connect the Local Bubble to another bubble of hot gas in the Centaurus constellation. “We did not know of the existence of an interstellar wormhole to the Centaurus constellation, which opens a gap in the colder interstellar medium,” explained Michael Freyber, one of the authors of the study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

eROSITA is a powerful X-ray telescope launched into space in 2019. A collaboration between Russia and Germany was designed to study the universe through X-ray light, enabling it to see objects invisible to our eyes, such as black holes, neutron stars, and hot gas. It is part of the Spektr-RG space observatory, orbiting the Sun about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. eROSITA has seven specially arranged mirrors to focus X-rays on its detectors.

Because of its high sensitivity, it can detect X-rays from very faint objects, which enables it to study the distant universe. Currently, eROSITA is scanning the entire X-ray sky, creating a detailed map that will help astronomers better understand the structure and evolution of the universe. It has already made some important discoveries, including a supermassive black hole consuming a star and a new type of galaxy cluster. It is expected to continue making revolutionary discoveries for many years to come.

Not a wormhole

Importantly, this interstellar tunnel is not a wormhole but a hypothetical passage connecting two distant points in space-time. At present, scientists do not know for sure where this tunnel leads and what secrets it may hold. However, its discovery opens fascinating new prospects for space research. Astronomers are already at work to study this structure in detail and unlock its secrets. Who knows what wonders await us beyond this interstellar tunnel? Perhaps, one day, our space probes will be able to pass through it and explore new worlds. This fortuitous discovery is a fascinating new vista for space research. Who knows what wonders lurk inside this interstellar tunnel and what new knowledge awaits us?