"What we didn't know was the existence of an interstellar tunnel towards Centaurus, which carves a gap in the cooler interstellar medium," said study coauthor Michael Freyberg.
Using extensive data collected by the eROSITA telescope, the researchers generated a 3D model of the entire LHB, confirming some features that astronomers had predicted, but also uncovering entirely new ones.
Astronomers believe the LHB formed some fourteen million years ago, when a chain of supernovas blew all nearby interstellar material away, creating a cavity around 1,000 light years in diameter.
The existence of the LHB was first proposed over fifty years ago to explain the pervasive presence of background x-ray radiation and the gaps in low-energy emissions.
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