Speeding Electrons Light up the Sky

Planck_planck15-002e_1024

planck_planck15-002e February 5th, 2015

Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech

A new portrait of the Milky Way shows the glow from fast-moving electrons trapped by the magnetic field running through our galaxy. This image comes from the European Space Agency's Planck mission, in which NASA plays an important role. It is constructed from observations made at microwave and millimeter wavelengths of light, which are longer than what we see with our eyes.

This kind of electromagnetic glow is known as synchrotron radiation. It is generated by the oscillations of fast-moving electrons, spit out of supernovas and other energetic phenomena, are captured in the galaxys magnetic field, spiraling along them near the speed of light.

Provider: Planck

Image Source: http://planck.ipac.caltech.edu/image/planck15-002e

Curator: NASA Planck Science Center, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Milky Way
Subject - Milky Way
Galaxy
Nebula > Type > Interstellar Medium
Planck_planck15-002e_1280
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ID
planck15-002e
Subject Category
B.5   B.4.1.1  
Subject Name
Milky Way
Credits
ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2015-02-05
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://planck.ipac.caltech.edu/image/planck15-002e
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
12706, 6353
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NASA Planck Science Center
URL
http://planck.ipac.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Publisher ID
planck
Resource ID
Resource URL
http://planck.ipac.caltech.edu/system/avm_image_sqls/binaries/27/original/planck15-002e.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2018-06-20T23:54:28Z
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA’s Science Activation program, which strives to further enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively and efficiently with learners of all ages.