It’s a composite of 370 observations over the previous 20 years by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory
NASA has launched a stunning new picture of our galaxy’s violent, super-energised “downtown.”
It’s a composite of 370 observations over the previous 20 years by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, depicting billions of stars and numerous black holes within the middle, or coronary heart, of the Milky Way. A radio telescope in South Africa additionally contributed to the picture, for distinction.
Astronomer Daniel Wang of the University of Massachusetts Amherst mentioned in an e mail: “What we see in the picture is a violent or energetic ecosystem in our galaxy’s downtown…There are a lot of supernova remnants, black holes, and neutron stars there. Each X-ray dot or feature represents an energetic source, most of which are in the center.”
This busy, high-energy galactic middle is 26,000 gentle years away. His work seems within the June difficulty of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Launched in 1999, Chandra is in an excessive oval orbit round Earth.
