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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Центр Галактики в радиодиапазоне от MeerKAT http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1808563/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Ian Heywood
(Oxford U.),
SARAO;
Color Processing:
Juan Carlos Munoz-Mateos
(ESO)
Explanation:
What's happening at the center of our galaxy?
It's hard to tell with optical telescopes since
visible light is blocked by intervening interstellar dust.
In other bands of light, though, such as
radio, the
galactic center
can be imaged and shows itself to be quite an
interesting and active place.
The featured picture shows the latest image of our Milky Way's center by the
MeerKAT array
of 64 radio dishes in
South Africa.
Spanning four times the angular size of
the Moon
(2 degrees),
the image is impressively vast, deep, and detailed.
Many known sources
are shown in clear detail, including many with a prefix of Sgr,
since the
galactic center
is in the direction of the
constellation Sagittarius.
In our Galaxy's Center lies
Sgr A,
found here in the image center, which houses the Milky Way's central supermassive
black hole.
Other sources in the image are not as well understood, including
the Arc, just to the left of
Sgr A, and numerous filamentary threads.
Goals for MeerKAT include searching for radio emission
from neutral hydrogen emitted in a much younger universe and brief but distant
radio flashes.
Open Science:
Browse 2,700+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library
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.