Astronomers built a 3D model of the center of the Milky Way based on data from the Chandra orbital observatory

Scientists have created a three-dimensional model of the Milky Way, allowing any network user to take a walk directly to the center of the galaxy. The model is volumetric, 360 degrees. The project was implemented thanks to data obtained from the Chandra space observatory and other telescopes. According to the authors of the project, they were aiming to create the most realistic model, which opens up the opportunity to be surprised once again about how huge even our galaxy is, not to mention the whole Universe.

The Earth is located 26 thousand light years (about 150,000 trillion kilometers) from the center of our galaxy. Of course, people are not able to get to the center on their own, but one can imagine how things are going in this region with the help of space travelers. Namely - radiation of various kinds, including X-ray and infrared.

In addition to the orbital observatory, infrared light observations from the Very Large Telescope were used to build the model. His team has long watched the star giants of the Wolf-Rayet class . They are characterized by very high temperature and luminosity. They differ from other stars by the presence in the spectrum of wide emission bands of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen in different degrees of ionization. From the insides of a star of this type, powerful streams of gases rush out, rushing into outer space, away from their own star.
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When new streams collide with gas emitted by other stars, “shock waves” are formed, similar in nature to “sound shocks” . These waves heat the gas to millions of degrees, which leads to the formation of X-rays. Chandra allows you to observe the central regions of the Milky Way, including the heat map of the region and the distribution of gases.

Astronomers need to better understand the role of Wolf-Rayt stars in the activity of the Milky Way center. In particular, scientists plan to find out how these stars interact with a super massive black hole, which is located in the center. Her name is Sagittarius A * . The mass of this object is approximately equal to the mass of four million suns. Data on the mass of the alleged supermassive black hole was published by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics based on observations over 16 years. Up to this point, the center of the Galaxy was known by optical observations, but it was not associated with any particular astronomical object.



The visualization center is located in the center of the Galaxy, which overlooks the 25 giant stars of the Wolf-Rayet class. They rotate around the center, emitting "stellar wind." Its different streams collide with each other (yellow objects). The video shows two simulations. One of them originates 350 years ago, and the second - 500 years. The first shows Sagittarius A * in a calm state, the second shows the center of the Galaxy in a more active form.

It is clear that visualization is only a display of a purely theoretical representation of astronomers about the essence of the center of the Galaxy. It is based on long-term observations of X-ray radiation, which, as mentioned above, is formed in the collision of stellar wind flows, leading to the heating of gases to millions of degrees. It is best to watch the Milky Way in the video glasses like Google Cardboards. But you can view everything on your mobile device or computer.

The visualization was presented by its creator, Christopher Russell, at the 231 meeting of the US Astronomical Society in Washington. Part of the video is based on data published by scientists in this article .


Chandra Observatory

The Chandra Observatory is the third of the four “Great Observatories” launched by NASA at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. Interestingly, her idea was proposed to the agency Riccardo Jacconi and Harvey Tananbaum back in 1976. Unfortunately, the station was somewhat simplified during the project. In particular, 4 of 12 planned X-ray mirrors and 2 of 6 planned focal devices were removed from it.