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Astronomy for Southern Hemisphere Beginners

Well, look at this beauty! JAC (The Joint Astronomy Centre) presents this image of the emission from the centre of our very own Milky Way.

The centre of the Milky Way is about 26,000 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Sagittarius. Dust between the Galactic centre and Earth blocks visible light, so the region must be observed using light of other wavelengths. The survey used sub-millimetre wavelengths to detect the cold dust - particles similar to soot and very fine sand - mixed in with the molecular gas.

This image of the emission from the centre of our Galaxy was taken at a wavelength of 0.85mm using the SCUBA camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii.

Want to see more of our galaxy centre?
This link will take you there!