Chandra Release - January 16, 2024

Visual Description: Molecular Clouds in our Galaxy's Center 

This release features a panoramic image, approximately 1,100 light-years across, of the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Billowy clouds, in shades of mostly red and blue, stretch across the middle of the image which is much wider than it is tall. Toward the right side of the image is a tiny, bright ball of light. This ball of light is Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy. 

Just to the left of the black hole is a small illustrated box outlining a region of space called the Stone Cloud. Two illustrated lines extend from this box to a superimposed enlargement of the Stone Cloud in X-ray light from Chandra. The Chandra image shows an irregularly shaped, purple and white cloud that is brighter on the right hand side.