This X-ray image shows our solar system 'breathing'

Astronomers have, for the first time, spotted the "breath of the solar system." The finding comes in the form of X-ray emissions generated when the electrically charged solar wind slams into both Earth's atmosphere and the bubble that surrounds our solar system, the heliosphere. This phenomenon, known as "solar wind charge exchange," was observed by the eROSITA space telescope, allowing a team of scientists to create a map of the sky in so-called "soft X-rays." This X-ray glow is radiated when the heavy ions of the solar wind , like carbon and oxygen, grab an electron from neutral atoms in either our outer atmosphere or the heliosphere. Solar wind charge exchange had previously been considered interference or background noise interfering with astronomers' attempts to measure the density and temperature of plasma in distant galaxies and galaxy clusters. By producing the clearest map to date of soft X-rays, this team has further validated the phenomenon as a fascinating area of study in its own right. Reconstruction of how the diffuse X-ray sky should have appeared to eROSITA from May to October 2021. At any given moment, eROSITA has observed only a 1° wide field along its scanning direction, which is indicated by a cyan curve. Each 360° scan took 4 hours and was done approximately perpendicularly to the direction of the Sun, which is located in the overexposed moving region. (Image credit: K. Dennerl, J. Sanders, H. Brunner & the eSASS team (MPE); E. Churazov, M. …