Centro Galáctico (Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer)

Centro Galáctico (Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer)

· NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

Un enorme vórtice giratorio de brillo de gas caliente con luz infrarroja, que marca la ubicación aproximada del agujero negro supermasivo en el corazón de nuestra galaxia de la Vía Láctea. Esta imagen compuesta de longitud de onda múltiple incluye luz de infrarrojo cercano capturada por el telescopio espacial Hubble de la NASA, y fue la imagen infrarroja más nítida jamás hecha de la región del Centro Galáctico cuando fue . Las bengalas parpadeantes dinámicas en la región que rodean inmediatamente el agujero negro, llamado Sagitario A*, han complicado los esfuerzos de la colaboración del telescopio del horizonte del evento (EHT) para crear una imagen más cercana y más detallada. Si bien el agujero negro en sí no emite luz y, por lo tanto, no puede ser detectado por un telescopio, el equipo de EHT está trabajando para capturarlo obteniendo una imagen clara del gas y el polvo brillante que lo rodea directamente. En su primer año de operaciones científicas, Webb se unirá a EHT para observar a Sagitario A*, prestando sus datos infrarrojos para comparar los datos de radio de EHT, lo que facilita la determinación de determinar cuándo están presentes destellos brillantes, produciendo una imagen general más nítida de la región. 

En la imagen compuesta que se muestra aquí, los colores representan diferentes longitudes de onda de luz. Las observaciones de infrarrojo cercano de Hubble se muestran en amarillo, revelando cientos de miles de estrellas, viveros estelares y gas calentado. Las observaciones infrarrojas más profundas del telescopio espacial Spitzer de la NASA se muestran en rojo, revelando aún más estrellas y nubes de gas. Light detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is shown in blue and violet, indicating where gas is heated to millions of degrees by stellar explosions and by outflows from the supermassive black hole.

Credits

Science

NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, STScI

Image Details

About The Object
Object Name Sagittarius A*
Object Description Center of the Milky Way Galaxy
R.A. Position 17h 45m 36.0s
Dec. Position -28° 55' 58.8"
Constellation Sagittarius
Distance 26,000 light-years (8 kiloparsecs)
About The Data
Data Description Spitzer Data: The Spitzer Space Telescope data were courtesy of NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and S. Stolovy (Spitzer Science Center/California Institute of Technology). Hubble Data: The Hubble component was from the HST proposal : Q.D. Wang (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), S. Stolovy (Caltech), C. Lang (University of Iowa), A. Cotera (SETI Institute), M. Muno (Caltech), M. Morris (University of California, Los Angeles), D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), S. Ramirez (Caltech), and G. Schneider (University of Arizona). Chandra Data: The science team was led by Q.D. Wang (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). Image courtesy of NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang et al.
Instrument SST>IRAC, HST>NICMOS, and CXO>ACIS
Exposure Dates September 3, 2004, and September 15, 2005 (SST), February 22 - June 5, 2008 (HST), and March 2000 - July 2007 (CXO)
Filters SST: 3.6 microns, 4.5 microns, 5.8 microns, and 8.0 microns HST: F187N (Paschen-Alpha) and F190N (Paschen-Alpha continuum) CXO: 1-3 keV, 3-5 keV, 5-8 keV
About The Image
Compass Image A tapestry in shades of blue, purple, red, yellow, and white, but the bright white in the center mutes the intensity of the colors nearby. The upper left corner is full of red and pink clouds of dust and gas, with yellow stars nestled everywhere. Except for the extreme upper right corner, the right seems less dusty, the multitude of yellow stars less shrouded. The lower portion begins with dusty pink and clouds showing yellow stars poking through. Moving to the right, there are several bright pink stars, quite a few blue stars, and 3 or more large yellow star clusters shrouded in pink dust. Dust from the bright center is thicker here, like fog blanketing an area of intense star formation, small yellow stars everywhere here. Continuing to the right, through lessening dust, there are red, pink, purple, and blue stars, but fewer small yellow ones. In the right corner area are pink, red, blue, and purple stars, and a small (by comparison to the center of the image) bright area.
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.

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