Dr. Figer Discusses the Significance of the Observation

The Arches and Quintuplet Clusters Near the Milky Way's Galactic Center

Penetrating 25,000 light-years of obscuring dust and myriad stars, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided the clearest view yet of a pair of the largest young clusters of stars inside our Milky Way galaxy, located less than 100 light-years from the very center of the Galaxy....

Arches Cluster

Quintuplet Cluster

2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) mosaic of the center of the Milky Way

The Milky Way and Sagittarius Constellation

Dr. Figer Relates his Reaction to the Images

Going Deep into the Milky Way Galaxy

Video sequence of still images going deep into the Milky Way Galaxy to the Arches cluster. Hubble, penetrating through dust and clouds, peered into the core where two giant clusters shine more brightly than any other clusters in the Galaxy.