Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have located an exhaust vent attached to a “chimney” of hot gas blowing away from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Eruptions from the supermassive black hole, called Sagittarius A*, may have created this chimney and exhaust vent. The chimney begins at the center of the galaxy and stands perpendicular to the Milky Way’s spiral disk. Astronomers had previously identified the chimney using X-ray data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission. Radio emissions detected by the MeerKAT radio telescope show the effect of magnetic fields enclosing the gas in the chimney. Researchers think the walls of the chimney tunnel, shaped like a cylinder, help funnel hot gas upwards and away from the galactic center. The newly discovered vent is located near the top of the chimney about 700 light-years from the center of the galaxy.