MUFONET-BBS NETWORK  -  MUTUAL UFO NETWORK
     
                  ASTRONOMY NEWS - WIRE
              

=START=   XMT: 15:58 Tue Jun 25  EXP: 16:00 Wed Jun 26      
                                                            
U.S., GERMAN SCIENTISTS FIND EVIDENCE OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF   
HOT GAS IN MILKY WAY                                        
                                                            
WASHINGTON (JUNE 25) XINHUA - SCIENTISTS FROM GERMANY AND   
THE UNITED STATES HAVE FOUND STRONG NEW EVIDENCE THAT HOT   
GAS BETWEEN THE STARS IN THE MILKY WAY IS MORE WIDESPREAD   
THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED, ACCORDING THE NEW YORK TIMES  
RELEASED TODAY.                                             
                                                            
MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO SCIENTISTS FIRST DETECTED A          
BACKGROUND OF SHORT WAVELENGTH X-RAY RADIATION, CALLED SOFT 
X-RAYS, WHICH SPREAD FAIRLY EVENLY THROUGHOUT SPACE.        
                                                            
SCIENTISTS WERE UNSURE OF THE SOURCE OF THESE X-RAYS BUT    
BELIEVED A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT CAME FROM SUPERHEATED GAS  
WITHIN THE GALAXY.                                          
                                                            
MANY SCIENTISTS BELIEVED THAT THE HOT GAS SURROUNDED THE SUN
LIKE BUBBLE OUT TO 300 LIGHT-YEARS. A LIGHT-YEAR IS THE     
DISTANCE LIGHT TRAVELS IN ONE YEAR, OR 5.8 TRILLION MILES.  
                                                            
USING AN X-RAY TELESCOPE ON A BRITISH-GERMAN SATELLITE      
LAUNCHED LAST YEAR, SCIENTISTS STUDIED A CLOUDS OF COLD     
INTERSTELLAR GAS IN THE CONSTELLATION DRACO 900 LIGHT-YEARS 
AWAY.                                                       
                                                            
THEY WERE SURPRISED TO FIND A DISTINCT SHADOW OF THE SOFT X-
RAYS. THE SCIENTISTS, SOME FROM THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE IN 
MUNICH AND OTHERS FROM PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SAID  
THE DRACO CLOUD MUST BE ABSORBING SOFT X-RAYS THAT ARE      
COMING FROM BEHIND IT.                                      
                                                            
THEIR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE HOT GAS IS MORE EXTENSIVE   
THAN ONLY A 300 LIGHT- YEAR BUBBLE AROUND THE SUN.          
                                                            
THE ISSUE IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT WILL TELL SCIENTISTS    
SOMETHING ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS.   
                                                            
SOME SCIENTISTS HAVE THEORIZED THAT THE SUPERHEATED GAS,    
POSSIBLY REMNANTS OF EXPLOSIONS OF MASSIVE STARS, IS SPREAD 
THROUGHOUT THE GALAXY. THE GAS MAY BE CONNECTED TO FORM A   
SORT OF GALACTIC HALO.                                      
                                                            
=END=

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