NASA's 'three amigos' capture the heart of the Milky Way
NASA has released an eye-catching image of the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The galaxy's core, seen as the bright region toward the right, is shrouded by cosmic dust and debris but is teeming with stars. This feat was achieved by the "three amigos," the trio of the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Why does this story matter?
Thanks to recent advances in space exploration, we can view and explore the cosmos like never before. The recently snapped image offers a spectacular glimpse of the complex nature of our very own galaxy. Among the accomplishments of the Spitzer telescope during its 16 years of operation, the telescope studied the most distant galaxies and discovered a giant ring of Saturn.
The image was captured in two different wavelengths
The image of the core of our galaxy was captured in two different wavelengths of light-infrared and X-ray. "Swirling colors of red, orange, yellow, gold, pink, and blue dominate this image," wrote NASA in an official post on Instagram. "Interstellar dust and radiation combine to create a brilliant tapestry backed by the blackness of space," added the space agency.
The Hubble Space Telescope operates in the visible light region
Hubble, which operates in visible light, caught sight of the stellar winds and radiation that arise from the giant stars in the vicinity. The stars occupy the center of the galaxy and are seen in the image in hues of yellow and gold.
About the Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer telescope imaged the same region in infrared wavelengths. Its data reveals more information about the "turbulent core" of the galaxy. As seen in shades of red and orange, the telescope had detected innumerable stars and "stellar nurseries" - the region where stars are being birthed. The space telescope, which launched in August 2003, concluded its mission in January 2020.
The image also shows a supermassive black hole
The Chandra X-ray Observatory depicts the galactic core in pink and blue, where pink stands for lower energy X-rays and blue represents higher energy. A supermassive black hole, at the galaxy's center, can be seen expelling X-rays, at the bottom right of the image.
