The Center of our Milky Way Galaxy

Nrao_nrao_gallery023_1024

nrao_NRAO_Gallery023  

Credit: Composite by B. Saxton using data from N.E. Kassim, T.J.W. Lazio, T.N. Larosa, D.S. Briggs; NRAO/AUI/NSF

Through the layers of dust that shroud the center of our galaxy from optical telescopes lurks a complex hub of activity. In this wide field Very Large Array (VLA) image, the supermassive black hole in the center of our Galaxy shines brightly in radio waves. Surrounding it are the winds and rivers of material caught in its gravitiational and magnetic wakes. Bubbles of star-formation and supernovas scatter around.

Provider: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Image Source: https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/the-center-of-our-milky-way-galaxy/

Curator: NRAO/AUI/NSF, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Galactic Center Milky Way
Subject - Milky Way
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
26,000 light years
Nrao_nrao_gallery023_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 17h 45m 40.0s
DEC = -29° 0’ 27.0”
Orientation
North is 1.4° CCW
Field of View
2.0 x 1.6 degrees
Constellation
Sagittarius

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red 2MASS Infrared (I) 1.7 µm
Green 2MASS Infrared (I) 1.3 µm
Blue 2MASS Infrared (I) 2.2 µm
Orange VLA Radio (P) 900.6 mm
Spectrum_ir2
Red
Green
Blue
Orange
Nrao_nrao_gallery023_1280
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ID
NRAO_Gallery023
Subject Category
B.5.4.6  
Subject Name
Galactic Center, Milky Way
Credits
Composite by B. Saxton using data from N.E. Kassim, T.J.W. Lazio, T.N. Larosa, D.S. Briggs; NRAO/AUI/NSF
Release Date
Lightyears
2.6E+04
Redshift
2.6E+04
Reference Url
https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/the-center-of-our-milky-way-galaxy/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
2MASS, 2MASS, 2MASS, VLA
Instrument
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue, Orange
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Radio
Bandpass
I, I, I, P
Central Wavelength
1.65E+03, 1.25E+03, 2.17E+03, 9.00563E+08
Start Time
2012-04-16T12:49:17-04:00, 2012-04-16T12:48:48-04:00, 2012-04-16T12:49:49-04:00, 1989-03-18
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
266.41666666667, -29.00750000000
Reference Dimension
1020, 837
Reference Pixel
510.58628386786, 419.70452769382
Scale
-0.00194716434, 0.00194716434
Rotation
1.36071898692
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.2 revision 218+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
NRAO/AUI/NSF
URL
https://public.nrao.edu
Name
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Email
outreach@nrao.edu
Telephone
Address
520 Edgemont Road
City
Charlottesville
State/Province
Virginia
Publisher
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Publisher ID
nrao
Resource ID
Metadata Date
2018-04-12T19:07:19+00:00
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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