US EditionLargest-Ever ALMA Image Reveals Milky Way's Hidden Core
The ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey revealed a complex 650-light-year region with diverse molecules and star formation near the Galactic center, scientists said.
- On Feb. 25, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array released its largest-ever image, capturing cold cosmic gases over more than 650 light-years and published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
- Survey leader Steve Longmore, ACES survey leader , said studying star formation in the Central Molecular Zone helps explain how galaxies grew and evolved, as it is an extreme, nearby galactic nucleus surrounding Sagittarius A*.
- Using many pointings, the team stitched many smaller ALMA observations into a mosaic, employing ALMA's 66 radio antennas to map cold gas and dust at the galaxy's center.
- The ACES team reported determining the molecular gas's chemical composition, detecting dozens of molecular species, and said the image should help scientists study star formation near the central black hole.
- The team notes the CMZ shares features with early-universe galaxies, hosting massive stars that end in supernovae and hypernovae, surprising ALMA astronomer Katharina Immer.
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46 Articles
Actually, part of the center of the Milky Way is invisible to the human eye. Researchers from the European Southern Observatory can now provide a spectacular image with the Alma radio telescope, which brings new insights into the universe.
Eurek Alert
eso.orgLargest image of its kind shows hidden chemistry at the heart of the Milky Way
Astronomers have captured the central region of our Milky Way in a striking new image, unveiling a complex network of filaments of cosmic gas in unprecedented detail. Obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this rich dataset — the largest ALMA image to date — will allow astronomers to probe the lives of stars in the most extreme region of our galaxy, next to the supermassive black hole at its centre.
ALMA reveals Milky Way's core in largest-ever mosaic, tracing cold gas filaments
Astronomers have captured the central region of our Milky Way in a striking new image, unveiling a complex network of filaments of cosmic gas in unprecedented detail. Obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this rich dataset—the largest ALMA image to date—will allow astronomers to probe the lives of stars in the most extreme region of our galaxy, next to the supermassive black hole at its center.
From the Alma radio telescope an image never seen. It is the most detailed (ANSA)
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 71% of the sources are Center
Factuality
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