COLLECTION NAME:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Record
Title:
The Galactic Center - A Radio Mystery
Explanation:
Tuning in [ http://www.pagecrea… ] to the center of our Milky Way galaxy, radio astronomers explore a complex, mysterious place. A premier high resolution view, this startlingly beautiful picture [ http://rsd-www.nrl.… ] covers a 4x4 degree region around the galactic center. It was constructed from 1 meter wavelength radio data obtained by telescopes of the Very Large Array [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] near Socorro, New Mexico, USA. The galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] itself is at the edge of the extremely bright object labeled Sagittarius (Sgr) A, suspected of harboring a million solar mass black hole. Along the galactic plane which runs diagonally through the image are tortured clouds of gas energized by hot stars and round-shaped supernova remnants (SNRs) - hallmarks of a violent [ http://www.astro.nw… ] and energetic cosmic environment [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]. But perhaps most intriguing are the arcs, threads, and filaments [ http://adsabs.harva… ] which abound in the scene. Their uncertain origins challenge present theories of the dynamics of the galactic center.
Credit and Copyright:
N. E. Kassim, D. S. Briggs, T. J. W. Lazio [ mailto:lazio@rsd.nrl.navy.mil ], T. N. LaRosa, J. Imamura (NRL [ http://www.nrl.navy… ]/RSD)
keyword:
galactic center
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_what:
Sagittarius
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap990128
