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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Gemini North Images Bow Shock Near Galactic Center
Explanation: What's going on near the center of our Galaxy? Glowing across the electromagnetic spectrum , the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is thought to be home to massive stars, rotating gas rings , and a massive black hole . Now the central Galactic zoo just got larger. The 8-meter Gemini North telescope in Hawaii in its first scientific observation has just imaged the Galactic Center and revealed a star only three light years out colliding with gas and dust . The bow shock , similar to that caused by a boat moving through water, appears arrow-shaped and is visible on the upper right of the above photograph taken in representative infrared colors. Gemini 's new flexible-mirror technology has imaged this structure , known as IRS8 , in finer detail than ever before.
| Date | October 17, 2000 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: International Gemini Project , AURA , NSF |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |