What is in the Milky Way core?
The Galactic Center (or Galactic Centre) is the rotational center, the barycenter, of the Milky Way galaxy. Its central massive object is a supermassive black hole of about 4 million solar masses, which powers the compact radio source Sagittarius A*, which is almost exactly at the galactic rotational center.
Does the Milky Way have a core?
The area of the galaxy they studied, known as the “central molecular zone” (CMZ) spans the 1600 light years closest to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. That is approximately 16 times closer to the galactic center than our own sun is.
Is there an actual photo of the Milky Way galaxy?
It’s important to remember that we live inside the Milky Way Galaxy, so there’s no way to show a true photograph of what the Milky Way looks like. We can see pictures of the Milky Way from inside it, or see artist illustrations of what the Milky Way might look like from outside.
What does the center of a galaxy look like?
At its center, surrounded by 200-400 billion stars and undetectable to the human eye and by direct measurements, lies a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short. The Milky Way has the shape of a spiral and rotates around its center, with long curling arms surrounding a slightly bulging disk.
Why is the center of the Milky Way so bright?
Stars on the far sides of the image are 900 light-years apart. The horizontal streak of brighter stars across the center of the image is the plane of the Milky Way. Scientists think these clouds were shaped by streams of charged particles, or “wind,” from massive stars.
How did they take picture of Milky Way?
Powerful telescopes like Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer (and soon, James Webb) capture images of our galaxy in many different light wavelengths, which astronomers piece back together so they can see past the gas and dust as far into the center as possible.
Who clicked the picture of Milky Way?
J-P Metsavainio
Finnish astrophotographer J-P Metsavainio spent 1,250 hours over the course of about 12 years creating a single image that reveals the magnificent beauty of the entire Milky Way galaxy.
What might happen if you got too close to the center of the Milky Way galaxy?
What might happen if you got too close to the center of the Milky Way galaxy? You would be burned up by the galaxy’s brightest stars. You would be spun outwards toward the edge of the galaxy. You would be trapped in the gravitational pul of a black hole.
Is there a massive black hole at the center of the galaxy?
For several years the scientific community has agreed that there is a mass at the center of the Milky Way galaxy and that the mass is a supermassive black hole—it has been named Sagittarius A*.
How do you find the Milky Way?
Use binoculars or a telescope for a closer view. Find the Milky Way with your naked eye first and point the lens towards it. Then look through the viewer to see individual stars and galaxies up close. Any size of binoculars or telescope will work.
What are the components of the Milky Way?
Answer. The Milky Way has three basic components to its visible matter: the disk (containing the spiral arms), the halo, and the nucleus or central bulge.
Is the Milky Way a star?
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years (ly). It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars and more than 100 billion planets.