                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2021 June 2

              The Galactic Center in Stars, Gas, and Magnetism
   Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT

   Explanation: What's going on near the center of our galaxy? To help
   find out, a newly detailed panorama has been composed that explores
   regions just above and below the galactic plane in radio and X-ray
   light. X-ray light taken by the orbiting Chandra Observatory is shown
   in orange (hot), green (hotter), and purple (hottest) and superposed
   with a highly detailed image in radio waves, shown in gray, acquired by
   the MeerKAT array. Interactions are numerous and complex. Galactic
   beasts such as expanding supernova remnants, hot winds from newly
   formed stars, unusually strong and colliding magnetic fields, and a
   central supermassive black hole are all battling in a space only 1000
   light years across. Thin bright stripes appear to result from twisting
   and newly connecting magnetic fields in colliding regions, creating an
   energetic type of inner galactic space weather with similarities to
   that created by our Sun. Continued observations and study hold promise
   to not only shed more light on the history and evolution of our own
   galaxy -- but all galaxies.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

