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The Galactic Plane

The Galactic Plane


Date: 01 May 2015
Satellite: Herschel
Depicts: Galactic Plane
Copyright: ESA/PACS & SPIRE Consortium, S. Molinari, Hi-GAL Project

The filamentary structure of the Galactic Plane as viewed by ESA's Herschel space observatory.

This image is part of Hi-GAL, a survey of the Galactic Plane completed with ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory. Peering at the sky in infrared light, Herschel could detect the glow of dust particles dispersed between stars. This minor – but crucial – component of the interstellar medium allows astronomers to investigate how stars are born in the Milky Way, and how they affect their environment as they age.

Nestled in the Milky Way’s disc are pockets of gas and dust that have been heated by nearby newborn stars, causing them to glow brightly like cosmic gems. Through their higher temperatures, these regions glow at shorter infrared wavelengths and are depicted in violet and green, while the colder material in the surroundings – only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero – appears redder.

Laced amongst the stars is an intricate network of filaments sprinkled with tiny white spots: these are denser clumps of gas and dust that will likely evolve and give birth to new stars.

The image combines observations from the PACS and SPIRE instruments on Herschel. It spans about 12 degrees on the longer side, corresponding to some 24 times the diameter of the full Moon. This is 1/30th of the entire Galactic Plane survey.

Last Update: 1 September 2019
28-Mar-2024 14:18 UT

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https://sci.esa.int/s/wx5Y2QW

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