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Origin of Antimatter Cloud Discovered
Active Seti brings us news that astronomers have discovered the origin of an enormous antimatter cloud surrounding the galactic center. Data from the European Space Agency's "Integral" satellite indicated that the cloud's distribution is similar to that of a group of binary star systems containing black holes or neutron stars. From NASA's article:
"The cloud itself is roughly 10,000 light-years across, and generates the energy of about 10,000 Suns. The cloud shines brightly in gamma rays due to a reaction governed by Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2. Integral found that the cloud extends farther on the western side of the galactic center than it does on the eastern side. Integral found certain types of binary systems near the galactic center are also skewed to the west. Because the two "pictures" of antimatter and hard low-mass X-ray binaries line up strongly suggests the binaries are producing significant amounts of positrons."
"The cloud itself is roughly 10,000 light-years across, and generates the energy of about 10,000 Suns. The cloud shines brightly in gamma rays due to a reaction governed by Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2. Integral found that the cloud extends farther on the western side of the galactic center than it does on the eastern side. Integral found certain types of binary systems near the galactic center are also skewed to the west. Because the two "pictures" of antimatter and hard low-mass X-ray binaries line up strongly suggests the binaries are producing significant amounts of positrons."
The cloud of antimatter is big and hot. When matter and antimatter come together they produce lots of Gamma rays, and that is happening. There are certain types of neutron stars or black holes that are orbiting in pairs that appear in the same pattern as the cloud or antimatter (positrons) so astronomers think it is likely that the pairs are causing the cloud.
It's entirely subjective, but the Galaxy does have eastern, western, northern, and southern "sides". You can't find them with a compass but when discussing the structure of the galaxy people have to be able to discern one part from another, and using words we already know makes sense.
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Ordinary folks like myself who wanted just to read the peer-reviewed article, not their popularizing crap, are mislead to go there.
While I would also prefer the peer reviewed article, you're making the false assumption that we're ordinary folk. Most people want the popularizing crap, not the actual science.
Probably not much at all would happen to an object traveling through the cloud. I couldn't find any information on how dense the cloud is thought to be, but any "cloud" in space is by its nature going to be extremely diffuse. A few particles impacting a normal matter object passing through is not going to do any noticeable damage and the extra gamma rays are likely a drop in the bucket compared to all the radiation encountered moving closer to the galactic center.
"...governed by Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2."
I think it's important for people to understand that scientific theories and laws don't "govern", they explain things. Einstein's theories don't direct or influence the universe, they're just an observation on how the universe appears to work.
I know correct grammar on the internet has become a huge point of controversy, but when referring to science there's too much public confusion about how things work. Using words like "govern" in relation to scientific theories is a step towards lending credence to Intelligent Design, like scientific laws are control mechanisms of some "Great Designer".
No, this anti-matter cannot form stars. According to the Nature paper, the anti-matter is purely positrons. No anti-protons, so it can't form anti-hydrogen. The gist of the paper is: we see lots of gamma rays that correspond to electron-positron annihilations. This glow is not symmetric. It has more or less the same distribution as a class of exotic systems which are capable of producing a lot of energy. If some of that energy is converted into electron/positron pairs, and if the positrons can escape the system and reach the "safety" of interstellar space, they should form a cloud which is about the right shape to match this glow.