Images

Chandra Survey of Galactic Center Region:

    

X-ray Image of the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy. This image shows a 400- by 900-light year swath of the center of the Milky Way in three color-coded energy bands: red - 1-3 keV; green - 3-5 keV; blue 5-8 keV and is made of 30 separate observations. Like a sprawling megalopolis, the image reveals hundreds of discrete X-ray-emitting objects, some of which are white dwarf stars, neutron stars and/or black holes, bathed in an incandescent fog of multimillion-degree gas around a supermassive black hole. The image allows for the first time to clearly separate the point-like and diffuse X-ray components in this region, representing an important step toward the understanding the energetic activities in the center region of our Galaxy.

 

Same as the above, but with key sources labeled

Galactic Center Region Across the Spectrum:

    Radio (VLA)

   Mid-Infrared (MSX)   

  X-ray (Chandra)

    

Composite (red: radio; green: mid-infrared; blue: X-ray)

Close-up images:

Central starforming region (red: radio; green: mid-infrared; blue: 6.4 keV line emission)

 

Photo Credit: Prof. Q. Daniel Wang, UMass. The above author grants permission to reproduce part or all of these images for non-commercial educational use only so long as the photo credit is displayed.