Hubble-Spitzer colour mosaic of the galactic centre
This composite colour infrared image of the centre of our Milky Way galaxy reveals a new population of massive stars and new details in complex structures in the hot ionised gas swirling around the central 300 light-years. This sweeping panorama is the sharpest infrared picture ever made of the Galactic core. It offers a nearby laboratory for how massive stars form and influence their environment in the often violent nuclear regions of other galaxies.
NASA, ESA and Q.D. Wang (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
About the Image
About the Object
| Name: | Milky Way |
|---|---|
| Type: | Milky Way : Galaxy : Component : Center/Core |
| Distance: | 25000 light years |
| Constellation: | Sagittarius |
| Category: | Galaxies |
Image Formats
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 17 45 45.38 |
|---|---|
| Position (Dec): | -28° 54' 23.55" |
| Field of view: | 20.47 x 9.66 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 58.4° left of vertical |
View in ESASky:
View in WorldWide Telescope:
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Infrared Near-IR | 3.6 μm | Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC |
| Infrared Near-IR | 4.5 μm | Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC |
| Infrared Near-IR | 5.8 μm | Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC |
| Infrared Near-IR | 8.0 μm | Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC |
|
Hubble Space Telescope
NICMOS |