Title
NASA's Great Observatories Examine the Galactic Center Region
Caption
NASA's Great Observatories Examine the Galactic Center Region. November 10 / 2009: A never-before-seen view of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The composite image features the spectacle of stellar evolution: from vibrant regions of star birth / to young hot stars / to old cool stars / to seething remnants of stellar death called black holes. This activity occurs against a fiery backdrop in the crowded / hostile environment of the galaxy's core / the center of which is dominated by a supermassive black hole nearly four million times more massive than our Sun. Permeating the region is a diffuse blue haze of X-ray light from gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by outflows from the supermassive black hole as well as by winds from massive stars and by stellar explosions. cocoons.
Info+
NASA/World History Archive
Credit line
Photo12/Ann Ronan Picture Library
Reference
ARP11A03_134
License type
Rights managed
Available size
55,0Mb (2,8Mb) / 20,7in x 10,3in / 6201 x 3100 (300dpi)