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| NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin |
Inner Milky Way Raging with Star Formation
More than 444,580 frames from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope were stitched together to create this portrait of the raging star-formation occurring in the inner Milky Way.
As inhabitants of a flat galactic disk, Earth and its solar system have an edge-on view of their host galaxy, like looking a glass dish from its edge. From our perspective, most of the galaxy is condensed into a blurry narrow band of light that stretches completely around the sky, also known as the galactic plane.
In this mosaic the galactic plane is broken up into five components: the far-left side of the plane (top image); the area just left of the galactic center (second to top); galactic center (middle); the area to the right of galactic center (second to bottom); and the far-right side of the plane (bottom). Together, these panels represent more than 50 percent of our entire Milky Way galaxy.
The red haze that permeates the picture comes from organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are illuminated by light from massive baby stars. On Earth, these molecules are found in automobile exhaust, or charred barbeque grills -- anywhere carbon molecules are burned incompletely.
The patches of black are dense, obscuring dust clouds impenetrable by even Spitzer's super-sensitive infrared eyes. Bright arcs of white throughout the image are massive stellar incubators. The bluish-white haze that hovers heavily in the middle panel is starlight from the older stellar population towards the center of the galaxy.
This picture was taken with Spitzer's infrared array camera, as part of the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) project. This is a four-color composite where blue is 3.6-micron light, green is 4.5 microns, orange is 5.8 microns and red is 8.0 microns.
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| About the Object |
Object Name:
Milky Way, Galactic Plane
Object Type:
Galaxy
Position (J2000):
RA:
17h 45m 40.00s
Dec:
-29d 0m 28.00s
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| About the Data |
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/E. Churchwell (Univ. of Wisconsin)
Instrument:
IRAC
Exposure Date:
GLIMPSE I: Mar. 2004 - Nov. 2004; GLIMPSE II: Sep. 2005 - Apr. 2006; GLIMPSE 3D: Sep. 2006 - May 2007
Exposure Time:
1.2 sec/frame (actual exposure time) >444,000 frames
Release Date:
June 3, 2008
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| Observers |
E. Churchwell (University of Wisconsin)
B. Babler (University of Wisconsin)
M. Meade (University of Wisconsin)
B. Whitney (Space Science Institute)
R. Indebetouw (University of Virginia)
R. Benjamin (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
T. Robitaille (St. Andrews University)
J. Jackson (Boston University)
D. Clemens (Boston University)
T. Bania (Boston University)
E. Mercer (Boston University, now University of Michigan)
H. Kobulnicky (University of Wyoming)
B. Uzpen (University of Wyoming)
M. Povich (University of Wisconsin)
C. Cyganowski (University of Wisconsin)
C. Watson (Manchester College)
C. Devine ((University of Wisconsin)
D. Watson (Vanderbilt University)
F. Heitsch (University of Michigan)
M. Cohen (University of California-Berkeley)
M. Wolfire (University of Maryland)
S. Bracker (University of Wisconsin)
J. Mathis (University of Wisconsin)
J. Rho (Spitzer Science Center)
S. Stolovy (Spitzer Science Center)
M. Wolff (Space Science Center)
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INDIVIDUAL IMAGES
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Mosaic Tile 1 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
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High-Resolution (24752x13520):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 2 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
JPEG
High-Resolution (24752x13520):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 3 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
JPEG
High-Resolution (24752x13520):
JPEG
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 4 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
JPEG
High-Resolution (24752x13520):
JPEG
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 5 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
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High-Resolution (24752x13520):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 6 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
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High-Resolution (24752x13520):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 7 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 8 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 9 of 16 (Left to Right)
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 10 of 16 (Left to Right)
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 11 of 16 (Left to Right)
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 12 of 16 (Left to Right)
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 13 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 14 of 16 (Left to Right)
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 15 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
Screen-Resolution (900x492):
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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Mosaic Tile 16 of 16 (Left to Right)
Warning Hi-Res Images Are Very Large
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
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