"The conditions at the center of our galaxy—the extreme temperatures, pressures, and turbulence—are very similar to the conditions in galaxies in the early universe, when most of the stars that exist today were being formed. Those galaxies are so far away that we can observe individual stars and planets forming within them, but we can in the center of our galaxy, and that's what our survey has been able to do."
"Before capturing the latest image, scientists could only see small, isolated patches of the Milky Way's center. It was like having a few snapshots of individual streets but no map of the city. We could see gas here, a star-forming cloud there, but we were missing how it was all connected."
"These long, thin filaments that we see are streams of matter that are flowing along to make stars and planets, and that was unexpected. The image of things that your eye naturally picks up that make it beautiful also has imprinted within it the physics that we're interested in."
Scientists using the Alma radio telescope in Chile obtained the largest image ever captured of the Milky Way's center. The image reveals the structure and dynamics of the galactic center, where extreme conditions mirror those in early universe galaxies during peak star formation. Previously, scientists could only observe isolated patches of the galactic center, lacking a comprehensive view of how structures connected. The new survey, involving over 160 scientists across several years, discovered unexpected long, thin filaments of matter flowing to create stars and planets. These findings provide crucial insights into stellar and planetary formation processes while combining scientific value with aesthetic beauty.
#milky-way-galactic-center #alma-telescope #star-formation #astronomical-imaging #galactic-structure
Read at www.theguardian.com
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