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Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Galactic Center in Radio from MeerKAT
NASA ^ | 14 Apr, 2025 | Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO, S. Crowe (UVA), J. Bally (CU), R. Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), I

Posted on 04/14/2025 1:02:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: What's happening at the center of our galaxy? It's hard to tell with optical telescopes since visible light is blocked by intervening interstellar dust. In other bands of light, though, such as radio, the galactic center can be imaged and shows itself to be quite an interesting and active place. The featured picture shows an image of our Milky Way's center by the MeerKAT array of 64 radio dishes in South Africa. Spanning four times the angular size of the Moon (2 degrees), the image is impressively vast, deep, and detailed. Many known sources are shown in clear detail, including many with a prefix of Sgr, since the galactic center is in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. In our galaxy's center lies Sgr A, found here in the image center, which houses the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. Other sources in the image are not as well understood, including the Arc, just to the left of Sgr A, and numerous filamentary threads. The inset image shows a small patch recently imaged in infrared light with the James Webb Space Telescope to investigate the effects of magnetic fields on star formation.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 04/14/2025 1:02:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 04/14/2025 1:02:29 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

3 posted on 04/14/2025 1:02:52 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

4 posted on 04/14/2025 1:04:22 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
visible light is blocked by intervening interstellar dust


5 posted on 04/14/2025 1:08:22 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: MtnClimber

Looks like mushrooms and spores.


6 posted on 04/14/2025 1:42:41 PM PDT by rfp1234 (E Porcibus Unum)
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To: MtnClimber

Can’t go wrong with MeerKat!


7 posted on 04/14/2025 3:12:30 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ (( We have two options: 1. Stand up, or 2. Bend over))
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To: MtnClimber

Amazing!


8 posted on 04/14/2025 8:32:27 PM PDT by Huskrrrr (Alinsky, you magnificent Bastard, I read your book!)
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To: MtnClimber

Hey! That looks like one of my brother’s paintings!


9 posted on 04/14/2025 9:33:36 PM PDT by Deaf and Discerning
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To: MtnClimber

KFI640 is near the center. WCCO is in the middle.


10 posted on 04/14/2025 10:27:19 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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