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Back ISO Image of the Inner Galaxy at 7 microns

ISO Image of the Inner Galaxy at 7 microns


Date: 07 June 2000
Satellite: ISO
Depicts: Galactic Centre
Copyright: ESA/ISO, S. Ganesh and the ISOGAL Collaboration

The Milky Way's centre is the busy core of a metropolis, crowded with huge populations of stars frantically dancing to the rhythm of gravitation. These stars are precious for astronomers: they hold many clues to unveil the past and future history of our galaxy. But the galactic centre has remained a fairly unexplored place so far, due to the thick dust covering it. The European Space Agency's infrared space telescope, ISO, has crossed that dusty barrier and has observed the stellar populations at the galactic centre with a very high resolution during more than 255 hours. The results already show 100 000 stars never seen before. Further analysis of the data could confirm that the Milky Way swallowed neighbouring galaxies in the past.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
14-Feb-2026 04:26 UT

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