Fermi Bubbles and Bubble-like emission from the Galactic Plane

TL;DR

This paper reveals that Fermi Bubbles and similar emission are present within the Galactic Plane, with a spectrum consistent with hadronic cosmic rays from sources, suggesting a hadronic origin for these structures.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of bubble-like gamma-ray emission in the Galactic Plane and links it to cosmic-ray interactions, expanding understanding of the Bubbles' origin.

Findings

Bubble-like emission found in the Galactic Plane coinciding with molecular clouds.

Spectrum matches predictions from cosmic rays trapped in sources (SCRs).

Energetics and spatial distribution support a hadronic origin.

Abstract

The diffuse gamma-ray sky revealed 'Bubbles' of emission above and below the Galactic Plane symmetric around the centre of the Milky Way with a height of 10 kpc in both directions. At present there is no convincing explanation for the origin. To understand the role of the Galactic Centre (GC) one has to study the Bubble spectrum inside the disc, a region which has been excluded from previous analysis because of the large foreground. From a novel template fit, which allows a simultaneous determination of the signal and foreground in any direction, we find that bubble-like emission is not only found in the halo, but in the Galactic Plane as well with a width in latitude coinciding with the molecular clouds. The longitude distribution has a width corresponding to the Galactic Bar with an additional contribution from the Scutum-Centaurus arm. The energy spectrum of the Bubbles coincides with the predicted contribution from CRs trapped in sources (SCRs). Also the energetics fits well. Hence, we conclude that the bubble-like emission has a hadronic origin, which arises from SCRs and the Bubbles in the halo arise from hadronic interactions in advected gas. Evidence for advection is provided by the ROSAT X-rays from hot gas in the Bubble region.