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Credit & Copyright: NASA,
ESA,
CSA,
STScI,
SARAO,
S. Crowe
(UVA),
J. Bally (CU), R. Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), I. Heywood (Oxford)
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 an 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.
The
inset image shows a small patch recently imaged in
infrared light with the
James Webb Space Telescope to
investigate
the effects of magnetic fields on star formation.
Open Science:
Browse 3,600+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Galactic Center
Publications with words: Galactic Center
See also:
- APOD: 2024 April 1 Á Swirling Magnetic Field around Our Galaxys Central Black Hole
- Milky Way Rising
- APOD: 2023 April 3 Á The Galactic Center Radio Arc
- The Galactic Center in Radio from MeerKAT
- Road to the Galactic Center
- The Galactic Center in Stars, Gas, and Magnetism
- The Galactic Center in Infrared