Photo from open sources
Our solar system is at the very edge of the small galactic sleeve of Orion. According to the latest calculations of astronomers, the distance from our star to the center of the Milky Way is approximately 27 thousand light years. Given that the diameter of our galactic disk is about 100 thousand light years, then we We are closer to its edge, and not to the center, as some believe researchers.
See the central regions of our galaxy human eye not capable, since they are hidden from us by various clusters gas and dust. To view the core of the Milky Way astronomers use other parts of the spectrum – infrared, x-ray, radio waves and gamma range.
The image obtained by the Spitzer telescope shows how man saw the galactic core, if he could see in infrared range. In this case, a high concentration of stars The image is the center of the Milky Way.
The brightest part in the image is the Sagittarius A * object. is he is a radio source that also emits in X-ray, infrared and other ranges. It’s believed that this object is associated with a black hole with a mass exceeding solar 4.3 million times. Astronomers believe that such objects most often found in the centers of large galaxies.
Previously, California astronomers recorded in the Milky Way infrared light flash near supermassive black hole.
Andrey Vetrov
Milky Way Galaxy Telescope
