The Giant Filaments in the Galactic Core

MeerKAT radio map of the Milky Way's core. Notice the "vertical" filaments (perpendicular to the galactic plane), which are a couple of light years across and hundreds of light years long. What an image!

Another view.

The filaments seem to be made of synchrotron radiation, which is produced by particles moving at nearly the speed of light through a magnetic field. Nobody knows, though, what gave those particles their energy, since the don't seem to be streaming away from anything.

MeerKat has also observed these filaments in other galaxies, and more recently other filaments have been discovered that are roughly parallel to the galatic plane ("horizontal").

More: Scientific American, LiveScience.