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Astronomers discover enormous 'barrier' separating the center of the Milky Way from the cosmic ray sea
The center of the Milky Way may be even more bizarre than astronomers thought, according to a new study.
Oh boy … another surprise for mainstream astronomers …
a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Nanjing investigated a map of radioactive gamma-rays … snip … blasting in and around the center of our galaxy.
The map revealed that something near the center of the galaxy appears to be accelerating particles to mind-blowing speeds — very near the speed of light — and creating an abundance of cosmic rays and gamma-rays just outside the galactic center. However, even as the galactic center blows a constant storm of high-energy radiation into space, something near the Milky Way's core prevents a large portion of cosmic rays from other parts of the universe from entering, the team reported Nov. 9 in the journal Nature Communications.
The researchers described the effect as an invisible "barrier" that is wrapped around the galactic center and is keeping the density of cosmic rays there significantly lower than the baseline level seen throughout the rest of our galaxy. In other words: Cosmic rays can get out of the galactic center, but have a hard time getting in.
How this cosmic barrier works, or why it exists, remains a mystery.
Yes, ANOTHER mystery. How many is that now ... that after being discovered are then quietly swept under the rug?
Using data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope, the team confirmed that something in the galactic center is indeed acting as a giant particle accelerator, shooting cosmic rays out into the galaxy. Possible culprits include Sagittarius A*, as black holes could theoretically shoot certain particles into space even as they gobble up everything else around them, Live Science previously reported; the remnants of ancient supernovas; or even strong stellar winds from the many stars crammed into the galactic center.
But the map also revealed the mysterious "barrier," a clear point where the density of cosmic rays drops off significantly at the edge of the galactic center. The source of this phenomenon is harder to pinpoint, the researchers said, but it may involve the jumble of magnetic fields near our galaxy's dense core.
Oh no ... not those pesky magnetic fields again ... the ones that mainstream astrophysicists not too long ago denied were ubiquitous.
For example, dense clouds of dust and gas near the galactic center could collapse onto themselves, compressing the magnetic fields there and creating a cosmic-ray-proof barrier, the team suggested in their paper.
Well, there it is, the next gnome in their zoo of unproven gnomes. Clouds of dust and gas collapse compressing magnetic fields. 
Or, perhaps stellar winds from the myriad stars at the galactic center are pushing back against the cosmic ray sea, much as the solar wind does.
And not just one, but two gnomes, for the price of wind ... I mean one.
Further research is required to figure out exactly what is happening in the bizarre depths of our galaxy.
Which, of course, will require the taxpayer give them more money. Just saying …