1
Chandra Broadband X-ray Image of Galactic Center, Without Point Sources
Chandra's long look at the Milky Way's center has revealed a surprising large region of extremely hot gas. Astronomers are puzzled how this gas is heated after analyzing the intensity and spectrum of the high-energy X-rays produced by this gas. The discovery came when astronomers used Chandra to study an area about 100 light years across. They then identified and removed thousands of point-like X-ray sources due to neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, foreground stars, and background galaxies. What remains is a diffuse X-ray glow extending along the direction of the disk of the Galaxy, with a puzzling mixture of 10-million-degree and 100-million-degree gas.
Scale: Image is 16 arcmin per side
(Credit:NASA/CXC/UCLA/MIT/M.Muno et al.)
Chandra's long look at the Milky Way's center has revealed a surprising large region of extremely hot gas. Astronomers are puzzled how this gas is heated after analyzing the intensity and spectrum of the high-energy X-rays produced by this gas. The discovery came when astronomers used Chandra to study an area about 100 light years across. They then identified and removed thousands of point-like X-ray sources due to neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, foreground stars, and background galaxies. What remains is a diffuse X-ray glow extending along the direction of the disk of the Galaxy, with a puzzling mixture of 10-million-degree and 100-million-degree gas.
Scale: Image is 16 arcmin per side
(Credit:NASA/CXC/UCLA/MIT/M.Muno et al.)
2
VLA Radio Image of Galactic Center
This image of the galactic center was taken on March 31, 1984 with NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA). Displayed in red, the image shows some of the filamentary structures that appear in centimeter radio wavelengths. The field of view is the same as the Chandra image.
Scale: Image is 16 arcmin per side
(Credit: NASA/CXC/NRAO/F.Yusef-Zadeh)
This image of the galactic center was taken on March 31, 1984 with NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA). Displayed in red, the image shows some of the filamentary structures that appear in centimeter radio wavelengths. The field of view is the same as the Chandra image.
Scale: Image is 16 arcmin per side
(Credit: NASA/CXC/NRAO/F.Yusef-Zadeh)
3
Chandra 3-Color Images of Galactic Center
The 3-color X-ray image was produced by combining a dozen Chandra observations made of the central region of the Milky Way. The colors represent low (red), medium (green) and high (blue) energy X-rays. Chandra's unique resolving power has allowed astronomers to identify thousands of point-like X-ray sources due to neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, foreground stars, and background galaxies. What remains is a diffuse X-ray glow extending from the upper left to the lower right, along the direction of the disk of the Galaxy. The Chandra data indicate that the diffuse glow is a mixture of 10-million-degree and 100-million-degree Celsius gas. Shock waves from supernova explosions are the most likely explanation for heating the 10-million-degree gas, but how the 100-million-degree gas is heated is a mystery.
Scale: Image is 16 arcmin per side
(Credit: NASA/CXC/UCLA/MIT/M.Muno et al.)
The 3-color X-ray image was produced by combining a dozen Chandra observations made of the central region of the Milky Way. The colors represent low (red), medium (green) and high (blue) energy X-rays. Chandra's unique resolving power has allowed astronomers to identify thousands of point-like X-ray sources due to neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, foreground stars, and background galaxies. What remains is a diffuse X-ray glow extending from the upper left to the lower right, along the direction of the disk of the Galaxy. The Chandra data indicate that the diffuse glow is a mixture of 10-million-degree and 100-million-degree Celsius gas. Shock waves from supernova explosions are the most likely explanation for heating the 10-million-degree gas, but how the 100-million-degree gas is heated is a mystery.
Scale: Image is 16 arcmin per side
(Credit: NASA/CXC/UCLA/MIT/M.Muno et al.)
Return to Hot Gas in Galactic Center (22 Jun 04)
Revised: May 17, 2022