Chandra Takes In The Bright Lights, Big City Of The Milky Way

Chandra_109_1024

chandra_109 January 9th, 2002

Credit: NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al.

This spectacular mosaic of Chandra images reveals hundreds of white dwarf stars, neutron stars, and black holes bathed in an incandescent fog of 10 million degree Celsius gas. A supermassive black hole residing at the center of our Galaxy is located inside the bright white patch near the middle of the mosaic. The colors indicate X-ray energy bands - red (low), green (medium), and blue (high). The mosaic gives a new perspective on how turbulent the Galactic Center is, and how the region affects the evolution of our Galaxy as a whole.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/gcenter/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Galactic Center
Subject - Milky Way
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Sky Phenomenon > Night Sky > Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > White Dwarf
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Neutron Star
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Black Hole
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole
Nebula > Type > Interstellar Medium

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
26,000 light years
Chandra_109_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 17h 45m 20.9s
DEC = -29° 2’ 45.2”
Orientation
North is 57.7° CCW
Field of View
2.2 x 0.9 degrees
Constellation
Sagittarius

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 620.0 pm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 310.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 190.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_109_1280
×
ID
109
Subject Category
B.5.1.1   B.7.1.3   B.3.1.7   B.3.1.9   B.3.1.10   B.5.4.6   B.4.1.1  
Subject Name
Galactic Center
Credits
NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al.
Release Date
2002-01-09
Lightyears
26,000
Redshift
26,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/gcenter/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.62, 0.31, 0.19
Start Time
2001-07-01 00:00, 2001-07-01 00:00, 2001-07-01 00:00
Integration Time
338400, 338400, 338400
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
266.3372816, -29.0458941
Reference Dimension
2642.0, 1024.0
Reference Pixel
1322.0, 513.0
Scale
0.000831756, 0.00083175556
Rotation
57.73
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-Ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
gcenter_xray_rgb.tif
Metadata Date
2024-04-16T14:37:22-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
26,000 light years

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