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Galactic Photo
This image is of the galactic center, which is the center of the Milky Way. The photograph is taken using infrared light, which changes the appearance of dust particles so that they do not obscure the image. As Wright (2003) points out, the universe is filled with dust, which tends to block the light being emitted from light-giving objects like stars. The composition of most galactic dust includes carbon, silicon, and oxygen (Wright, 2003). The dust can grow in molecular clouds, and are created in the atmosphere of red-giant stars that are cooling off (Nemiroff & Bonnell, 2006).
Infrared allows the exposure of rays that are beyond what the naked eye can see. These rays are beyond or below the red part of the color spectrum, which is why the technology is called "infrared." Below infrared rays are microwave and radio waves. Although not visible to the human eye, rays in the infrared spectrum are "reflected, refracted, absorbed and transmitted just like visible light," and can therefore be captured by special cameras, lenses, or filters ("Discovery of Infrared," n.d.). Used in this photograph, infrared photography allows for the capture of the galactic center and...
This is the plane of the sun's orbit. The other suns in the galaxy likewise have their own orbital planes, and some of them even share the same orbital plane (Cain, 2014).
Research by Ghez shows that there is indeed a "supermassive" black hole at the center of the galaxy, although this is not picked up by the infrared camera (Cain, 2014). What the camera does pick up, though, is the visible business that is characteristic of the galactic center. Ghez describes the center of the galaxy as an "extreme" place with "stars zooming around," (cited by Cain, 2014). The photograph captures the business at the galactic center, as the image appears to show trillions of stars in addition to the luminous glow at the center.
The galactic center is about 30,000 light years away, making this photo as close as most people will get to seeing it. Although many black holes are believed to be surrounded by clusters of old stars and few new stars, the Milky Way black hole is unique in that new stars have been forming there and there is not an overabundance of old stars (Cain, 2014).…
References
Cain, F. (2014). What's at the center of our galaxy? Universe Today. Retrieved online: http://www.universetoday.com/109015/whats-at-the-center-of-our-galaxy/
"Discovery of Infrared," (n.d.). Retrieved online: http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/discovery.html
Nemiroff, R. & Bonnell, J. (2006). The galactic center in infrared. Retrieved online: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060716.html
Wright, E.L. (2003). Astronomy picture of the day. Retrieved online: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html
Of those 1,235, 68 are estimated to be Earth-size; 288 are super Earth-size; 662 are Neptune-size; 165 are the size of Jupiter, and 19 are larger than Jupiter (Science Daily). Of the 54 planet candidates that have been found in the habitable zone, five are near Earth-size. The other 49 left in the habitable zone range from super-Earth-size (up to twice the size of the Earth) -- to larger than
The diameters of these clusters range from about 75 light years to as much as 400 light years and can be as far as 300,000 light years from the Earth. In many parts of the Milky Way galaxy, there exist dense concentrations of interstellar matter known as nebula and are generally classified as emission nebula, reflection nebula or dark nebula. Emission nebula are by far the most exotic, for they
However, unlike other spiral galaxies found scattered throughout the universe, the black hole which is assumed to exist in the center of the Milky Way galaxy is dormant and is not "actively feeding," meaning that it is not currently swallowing up material for some unknown reason. Almost from the beginning of astronomical observations of galactic bodies in the universe, it has always been thought that "the more massive the
Hubble Space Telescope As the world's first Earth-orbiting reflecting telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) represents the culmination of the dreams of many astronomers and the fulfillment of a hope that began in the 1950's when the United States launched instruments into space in order to study the Earth's atmosphere. Our planetary speck in space, namely the Earth, is only one of hundreds of billions of planets that surely orbit
Radiation Radiation can be described as energy that is in the form of streams or waves of particles. Numerous types of radiation surround us. When most individuals hear the term radiation, the thing that comes to their mind is nuclear power, radioactivity, and atomic energy. Radiation, however, has several other forms. Visible light and sound are some familiar kinds of radiation. Other kinds of radiation include television and radio signals, infrared