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Compass and Scale Image for Milky Way Center

Compass and Scale Image for Milky Way Center
This annotated, infrared image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the scale of the galactic core. The locator mark in the middle designates the galaxy's nucleus, which is home to a central, supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* (pronounced Sagittarius A-star).

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    17h 45m 36.0s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -28° 55' 58.8"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Sagittarius
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    27,000 light-years (8,000 parsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    The HST data were taken from proposals 13049, 12663, and 12182 PI: T. Do (UCLA) and 11671 PI: A. Ghez (UCLA). The science team comprises T. Do, A. Ghez, and M. Morris (UCLA), R. Schodel (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucia), J. Lu (University of Hawaii), W. Clarkson (University of Michigan), D. Merritt (RIT), B. Hansen and S. Yelda (UCLA), J. Bullock (University of California, Irvine), J. Anderson (STScI), L. Meyer, E. Mills, and N. McCrady (UCLA), and J.-U. Pott (Max Planck Insititue for Astronomy, Heidelberg).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFC3/IR
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    2010 - 2014
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F127M (H2O/CH4 continuum), F139M (H2O/CH4 line), and F153M (H2O and NH3)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Galactic Center
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Center of the Milky Way Galaxy
  • Release Date
    March 31, 2016
  • Science Release
    Hubble’s Journey to the Center of Our Galaxy
    Read the release
  • Credits
    NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: T. Do and A. Ghez (UCLA), and V. Bajaj (STScI)

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Compass and Scale Image for Milky Way Center
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/IR instrument. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F127M (H2O/CH4 continuum) Green: F139M (H2O/CH4 line) Red: F153M (H2O and NH3)

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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Details

Last Updated
Feb 24, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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