Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Hundreds of strange filaments twist through the Galaxy’s centre

Long structures that emit brilliant radio waves cannot be easily explained.
The MeerKAT image of the Galactic centre region is shown with the Galactic plane running horizontally across the image.

The central region of the Milky Way contains long filaments (extending from horizontal structure; artificially coloured) that might be a product of past activity by the supermassive black hole in the same region. Credit: I. Heywood, SARAO

The Galaxy’s population of mysterious filaments that emit bright radio waves is at least ten times larger than scientists realized1,2.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 602, 364 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00355-5

References

  1. Yusef-Zadeh, F. et al. Astrophys. J. 925, L18 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Heywood, I. et al. Astrophys. J. 925, 165 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Yusef-Zadeh, F., Morris, M. & Chance, D. Nature 310, 557 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links