The center of our galaxy is interesting not only because of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. There are areas of abundant star formation there. Astronomers have received an image of one of these areas – Sagittarius C. Despite all its magnificence, this image does not reflect the fullness of the stars located there. Dust and gas obscure the view and hide many newborns. Only spectra indicate their appearance. But this also serves as a hint for searching for other similar foci.
This image of Sagittarius C, 300 light-years from the center of the Milky Way, was taken by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The HAWK-I infrared instrument mounted on the telescope helped us look a little deeper through the dust and gas. Without it, the study area would show even fewer stars than we see in the image above.
There are hundreds of thousands of stars in the Sagittarius C cluster, most of which are in the image. “The center of the Milky Way is the most prolific star-forming region in the entire galaxy,” ESO said in a statement. “However, astronomers discovered only part of the young stars here that they expected.” [увидеть]».
“There is ‘fossil’ evidence that many more stars were born in the recent past than the ones we actually see,” the scientists explain. “This is because looking towards the center of the galaxy is not an easy task.”
However, the infrared instrument on the telescope was able to peer through these clouds and see the densely packed stellar population of Sagittarius C. The instruments also revealed the chemical composition of the interstellar gas, which led to the expectation that many new stars would appear in this region. This observation will help astronomers identify new regions in which to look for other darkened young stars and clusters. The Milky Way is our stellar home and it is better to know more about it than less.
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