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Galactic Center (Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer Compass Image)

Annotated telescope image shows a tapestry of colors in shades of blue, purple, red, yellow, and white. Overlaid on the image are three sets of labels. In the upper right corner is the name of the object, Center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the name of the telescopes used to capture the image: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope. At the center is a label that points to the smaller, amorphous region in white that reads, Sagittarius A-star.

This composite image of the center of our Milky Way galaxy was captured by the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, the Hubble Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, and the Spitzer Space Telescope’s Infrared Array Camera.

At the center is a label that points to the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star).

This image shows invisible infrared and X-ray wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors.

Read the full image caption.

  • Release Date
    October 27, 2021
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Will Join Forces with the Event Horizon Telescope to Reveal the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, STScI

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Science Credit

NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, STScI

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