Starship Asterisk*

The Galactic Center in Infrared from 2MASS

Explanation: The center of our Galaxy is a busy place. In visible light, much of the Galactic Center is obscured by opaque dust. In infrared light, however, dust glows more and obscures less, allowing nearly one million stars to be recorded in the above image. The Galactic Center itself appears glowing on the lower left and is located about 30,000 light years away towards the constellation of Sagittarius. The Galactic Plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, the plane in which the Sun orbits, is identifiable by the dark diagonal dust lane. The absorbing dust grains are created in the atmospheres of cool red-giant stars and grow in molecular clouds. The region directly surrounding the Galactic Center glows brightly in radio and high-energy radiation. The Galactic Center is thought to house a large black hole.

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Well, that's a golden oldie which was a spectacular picture at its time. Now, though, there are many images of the center of the Milky Way which are just so much better.

As for this picture, I wonder what scale we are talking about. I think there are a couple of HII regions in the upper right of the dust lane. Can anyone identify them?

I think this is really a picture thru a tree branch........with a pinhole camera

Does the angle of the plane ever change or is it pretty much stationary regardless of the time of year for planet earth?

because it's at an angle, can it be said that the solar plane is slightly titled compared to the galactic plane?

JuanAustin wrote:Does the angle of the plane ever change or is it pretty much stationary regardless of the time of year for planet earth?

because it's at an angle, can it be said that the solar plane is slightly titled compared to the galactic plane?

The galactic plane is tilted about 60° to the ecliptic, and for all practical purposes that angle can be considered fixed. However, that doesn't mean that the Milky Way doesn't change its angle with respect to the horizon both over the course of the year as well as over each night- just as the ecliptic does.

Ann wrote:Well, that's a golden oldie which was a spectacular picture at its time. Now, though, there are many images of the center of the Milky Way which are just so much better.

As for this picture, I wonder what scale we are talking about. I think there are a couple of HII regions in the upper right of the dust lane. Can anyone identify them?

Ann,
The scale (field of view), of the photo is ~10 x 8 degrees. The two regions of interest, that I think you are referring to, are NGC 6357 (War and Peace Nebula), nearer the galactic center, and NGC 6334 (Cat's Paw Nebula). Both are in the constellation Scorpius, and NGC 6357 is also home to Pismis 24, an open star cluster containing some of the more massive stars known. Note that the NGC links are 2MASS pictures also, so you can verify the identities yourself by zooming in on the two regions in the APOD 2MASS picture and compare to the linked 2MASS pictures of the individual nebulae.

Hope this is helpul

Reminds me of a "fault Zone" on Earth where two parts of the Earth come together and "push" at each other.
Its a good thing that that is not whats happening in Space, or we would end up flatter than a pancake and very short on syrup!!

Alter ego wrote:

The two regions of interest, that I think you are referring to, are NGC 6357 (War and Peace Nebula), nearer the galactic center, and NGC 6334 (Cat's Paw Nebula). Both are in the constellation Scorpius, and NGC 6357 is also home to Pismis 24, an open star cluster containing some of the more massive stars known.

Thank you for your answer!

Ann