Journey to the center of the galaxy

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980 · Astronomy; (United States)

OSTI ID:5635402

Chaisson, E

The solar system is a member of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, far from the center of the Galaxy. This article takes the reader on a hypothetical journey from the solar system to the center of the Galaxy. Results from radio and infrared studies are used to suggest what such a journey might reveal. Traveling from the solar system toward the center, one crosses the Cygnus Arm, then the Sagittarius Arm, and then the so-called Three-kiloparsec Arm. The Arms contain a mixture of young stars as well as lots of gas and dust. Radio studies show that the Three-kiloparsec Arm is more like a ring than an arm. Inside this ring, is another ring composed of giant molecular clouds. Radio and infrared astronomers have discovered that the heart of the Galaxy is composed of matter in most perplexing states. There are three regions known within this innermost thousand light-years. First, there is a large zone of thin, hot ionized gas. Within this, there is a whirlpool of dense, warm matter. And further embedded, there seems to be a small supermassive object at the center. Possibly this object could be a blackhole. Researchers are continuing to examine, monitor, and model this mysterious region, the galactic nuclei. (SC)

• Research Organization: Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA
• OSTI ID: 5635402
• Journal Information: Astronomy; (United States), Vol. 8:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
MILKY WAY
GALAXY NUCLEI
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC DUST
COSMIC GASES
EMISSION SPECTRA
EXPANSION
GRAVITATION
INFRARED RADIATION
INTERFEROMETRY
PLASMA
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
ROTATION
SPIRAL CONFIGURATION
TELESCOPES
CONFIGURATION
DUSTS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FLUIDS
GALAXIES
GASES
MOTION
RADIATIONS
SPECTRA
640105* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Galaxies