Astronomers have 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 voluminous, 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 aimed at creating the most realistic model, which opens up the opportunity to be surprised once again by how huge even our Galaxy is, not to mention the whole Universe.

Earth is located 26 thousand light-years (this is 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 you 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 watched Wolf-Rayet class giants for a long time. They are characterized by a 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. Powerful streams of gases escaping from the insides of a star of this type, rushing into outer space, away from their star.


When new streams collide with gas ejected by other stars, “shock waves” are formed, similar in nature to “sonic booms” . 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 gas distribution.

Astronomers need to better understand the role of Wolf-Rayet class stars in the activity of the center of the Milky Way. In particular, scientists plan to find out how these stars interact with a super massive black hole that 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 were published by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics based on observations over 16 years. Until that moment, the center of the Galaxy was known from optical observations, but it was not associated with any particular astronomical object.



The visualization center is located just in the center of the Galaxy, from which overlooks 25 giant Wolf-Rayet class stars. They revolve around the center, emitting a "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 reflection of the purely theoretical idea of ​​astronomers about the essence of the center of the Galaxy. It is based on long-term observations of x-ray radiation, which, as already mentioned above, is formed during the collision of stellar wind flows, leading to the heating of gases to millions of degrees. It's best to watch the Milky Way in video glasses like Google Cardboards. But you can view everything on a mobile device or computer.

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


Chandra

Observatory Chandra Observatory- The third of four "Big Observatories" launched by NASA in the late XX - early XXI centuries. Interestingly, her idea was proposed to the agency Riccardo Giacconi and Harvey Tananbaum in 1976. Unfortunately, during the implementation of the project, the station was somewhat simplified. In particular, 4 out of 12 planned x-ray mirrors and 2 of 6 planned focal devices were removed from it.