What surprising orderly arrangement was observed for bipolar PNs in the Milky Way’s central bulge?
Answer
Their long axes were preferentially oriented along the plane of the galaxy.
Deep observations conducted within the crowded environment of the Milky Way’s central bulge revealed an unexpected level of order among the bipolar Planetary Nebulae. Despite the expected chaotic formation environment, the long axes of these bipolar structures showed a statistically significant preference for alignment parallel to the general plane of the galaxy. This orderly arrangement suggests that larger, large-scale environmental factors—possibly strong magnetic fields pervasive in the bulge during stellar formation—imprinted their orientation onto the dying stars.
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