X-ray and infrared light peer through celestial dust to reveal the core of our galaxy.
A new image pulled from three high-powered telescopes offers a never-before-seen view of the insides of our Milky Way Galaxy.
The Hubble and Spitzer telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have joined forces to bring us an incredible image that reaches way beyond the capabilities of the human eye. The image was unveiled by NASA yesterday to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, marking 400 years after Galileo first looked towards the stars with his telescope.
All three observatories had a hand in the image by looking at different parts of the light spectrum: the Chandra X-Ray Observatory satellite focused on the x-ray light (the blue and purple aspects in the final photo), the Spitzer telescope looked at the infrared light (the redness) and the Hubble telescope looked at near infrared light, which is closest to the visible part of the color spectrum (yellow). All three part were combined in the final, multi-wavelength image seen above.
As you can see, the final image is an astounding panorama of the center of our universe, and is one of the most detailed pictures of the Milky Way Galaxy ever produced. To get the full effect of the photograph, select schools and planetariums around the country will display giant six-foot-by-three-foot prints of the image.
To see more amazing images of space, check out this montage of shots captured from the Hubble telescope.