X Ray Milky Way
Explanation:
If you had x-ray vision,
the
center regions
of our Galaxy would not be hidden from
view by the immense cosmic dust clouds
opaque to visible light.
Instead,
the
Milky Way
toward
Sagittarius might look something
like
this stunning mosaic
of images from the orbiting
Chandra Observatory.
Pleasing to look at, the gorgeous false-color
representation of
the x-ray data shows
high energy x-rays in blue, medium energies in green,
and low
energies in red.
Hundreds of white dwarf stars,
neutron stars, and black holes immersed in a
fog of multimillion-degree gas are included in the
x-ray vista.
Within the white patch at the image center lies
the Galaxy's central
supermassive black hole.
Chandra's sharp
x-ray vision will likely lead to a new
appreciation of our Milky Way's most active neighborhood
and has already indicated that the hot gas itself may
have a temperature of a mere 10 million degrees Celsius
instead of 100 million degrees as previously thought.
The full mosaic is composed of 30 separate images and covers
a 900 by 400 light-year swath
at
the galactic center.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
