HAWK-I view of the Milky Way’s central region
Details of the HAWK-I view of the Milky Way’s central region
Location of the Galactic centre in the night sky
Videos
ESOcast 213 Light: Stunning stars in the Milky Way central region
Pan across the Milky Way’s central region
Zoom of the Milky Way’s central region
The Milky Way’s central region observed with VISTA and HAWK-I
Image Comparisons
The Milky Way’s central region in visible light and near-infrared
The Milky Way’s central region observed with VISTA and HAWK
ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has observed the central part of the
Milky Way with spectacular resolution and uncovered new details about
the history of star birth in our galaxy. Thanks to the new observations,
astronomers have found evidence for a dramatic event in the life of the
Milky Way: a burst of star formation so intense that it resulted in
over a hundred thousand supernova explosions.
"Our unprecedented survey of a large part of the
Galactic centre has given us detailed insights into the formation
process of stars in this region of the Milky Way," says Rainer Schödel from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain, who led the observations. "Contrary to what had been accepted up to now, we found that the formation of stars has not been continuous,” adds Francisco Nogueras-Lara, who led two new studies of the Milky Way central region while at the same institute in Granada.
In the study, published today in Nature Astronomy,
the team found that about 80% of the stars in the Milky Way central
region formed in the earliest years of our galaxy, between eight and
13.5 billion years ago. This initial period of star formation was
followed by about six billion years during which very few stars were
born. This was brought to an end by an intense burst of star formation
around one billion years ago when, over a period of less than 100
million years, stars with a combined mass possibly as high as a few tens of million Suns formed in this central region.
“The conditions in the studied region during this burst of activity must have resembled those in ‘starburst’ galaxies, which form stars at rates of more than 100 solar masses per year,”
says Nogueras-Lara, who is now based at the Max Planck Institute for
Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. At present, the whole Milky Way is
forming stars at a rate of about one or two solar masses per year.
“This burst of activity, which must have resulted in the explosion
of more than a hundred thousand supernovae, was probably one of the most
energetic events in the whole history of the Milky Way,” he adds.
During a starburst, many massive stars are created; since they have
shorter lifespans than lower-mass stars, they reach the end of their
lives much faster, dying in violent supernova explosions.
This research was possible thanks to observations of the Galactic central region done with ESO’s HAWK-I instrument on the VLT
in the Chilean Atacama Desert. This infrared-sensitive camera peered
through the dust to give us a remarkably detailed image of the Milky
Way’s central region, published in October in Astronomy & Astrophysics
by Nogueras-Lara and a team of astronomers from Spain, the US, Japan
and Germany. The stunning image shows the galaxy’s densest region of
stars, gas and dust, which also hosts a supermassive black hole, with an
angular resolution of 0.2 arcseconds. This means the level of detail
picked up by HAWK-I is roughly equivalent to seeing a football (soccer
ball) in Zurich from Munich, where ESO’s headquarters are located.
This image is the first release of the GALACTICNUCLEUS
survey. This programme relied on the large field of view and high
angular resolution of HAWK-I on ESO’s VLT to produce a beautifully sharp
image of the central region of our galaxy. The survey studied over
three million stars, covering an area corresponding to more than 60 000
square light-years at the distance of the Galactic centre (one
light-year is about 9.5 trillion kilometres).
More Information
This research was presented in the paper “GALACTICNUCLEUS: A high angular resolution JHKs
imaging survey of the Galactic Centre: II. First data release of the
catalogue and the most detailed CMDs of the GC” published in Astronomy
& Astrophysics and in “Early formation and recent starburst activity
in the nuclear disc of the Milky Way” to appear in Nature Astronomy (doi: 10.1038/s41550-019-0967-9).
The team of the Astronomy & Astrophysics paper
is composed of F. Nogueras-Lara (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía,
Granada, Spain [IAA-CSIC]), R. Schödel (IAA-CSIC), A. T.
Gallego-Calvente (IAA-CSIC), H. Dong (IAA-CSIC), E. Gallego-Cano (IAA
and Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán, Almería, Spain), B. Shahzamanian
(IAA-CSIC), J. H. V. Girard (Space Telescope Science Institute,
Baltimore, USA), S. Nishiyama (Miyagi University of Education, Sendai,
Japan), F. Najarro (Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiología
CAB (CSIC-INTA), Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain), N. Neumayer (Max Planck
Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany).
The team of the Nature Astronomy paper is composed
of F. Nogueras-Lara (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Granada,
Spain [IAA-CSIC]), R. Schödel (IAA-CSIC), A. T. Gallego-Calvente
(IAA-CSIC), E. Gallego-Cano (IAA-CSIC), B. Shahzamanian (IAA-CSIC), H.
Dong (IAA-CSIC), N. Neumayer (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy,
Heidelberg, Germany), M. Hilker (European Southern Observatory, Garching
bei München, Germany), F. Najarro (Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro
de Astrobiología, Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain), S. Nishiyama (Miyagi
University of Education, Sendai, Japan), A. Feldmeier-Krause (The
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The University of Chicago,
Chicago, US), J. H. V. Girard (Space Telescope Science Institute,
Baltimore, USA) and S. Cassisi (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of
Abruzzo, Teramo, Italy).
ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy
organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based
astronomical observatory by far. It has 16 Member States: Austria,
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with
Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme
focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful
ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important
scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and
organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three
unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and
Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its
world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey
telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT
Survey Telescope. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the
Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive
gamma-ray observatory. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on
Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in
existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the
39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the
world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Links
Contacts
Francisco Nogueras-Lara
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Heidelberg, Germany
Tel: +49 6221 528-393
Email: nogueras@mpia.de
Rainer Schödel
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)
Granada, Spain
Tel: +34 958 230 529
Email: rainer@iaa.es
Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
Cell: +49 151 241 664 00
Email: pio@eso.org
Source: ESO/News
ESOcast 213 Light: Stunning stars in the Milky Way central region
Pan across the Milky Way’s central region
Zoom of the Milky Way’s central region
The Milky Way’s central region observed with VISTA and HAWK-I
Image Comparisons
The Milky Way’s central region in visible light and near-infrared
The Milky Way’s central region observed with VISTA and HAWK
ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has observed the central part of the
Milky Way with spectacular resolution and uncovered new details about
the history of star birth in our galaxy. Thanks to the new observations,
astronomers have found evidence for a dramatic event in the life of the
Milky Way: a burst of star formation so intense that it resulted in
over a hundred thousand supernova explosions.
"Our unprecedented survey of a large part of the Galactic centre has given us detailed insights into the formation process of stars in this region of the Milky Way," says Rainer Schödel from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain, who led the observations. "Contrary to what had been accepted up to now, we found that the formation of stars has not been continuous,” adds Francisco Nogueras-Lara, who led two new studies of the Milky Way central region while at the same institute in Granada.
In the study, published today in Nature Astronomy,
the team found that about 80% of the stars in the Milky Way central
region formed in the earliest years of our galaxy, between eight and
13.5 billion years ago. This initial period of star formation was
followed by about six billion years during which very few stars were
born. This was brought to an end by an intense burst of star formation
around one billion years ago when, over a period of less than 100
million years, stars with a combined mass possibly as high as a few tens of million Suns formed in this central region.
“The conditions in the studied region during this burst of activity must have resembled those in ‘starburst’ galaxies, which form stars at rates of more than 100 solar masses per year,” says Nogueras-Lara, who is now based at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. At present, the whole Milky Way is forming stars at a rate of about one or two solar masses per year.
“The conditions in the studied region during this burst of activity must have resembled those in ‘starburst’ galaxies, which form stars at rates of more than 100 solar masses per year,” says Nogueras-Lara, who is now based at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. At present, the whole Milky Way is forming stars at a rate of about one or two solar masses per year.
“This burst of activity, which must have resulted in the explosion
of more than a hundred thousand supernovae, was probably one of the most
energetic events in the whole history of the Milky Way,” he adds.
During a starburst, many massive stars are created; since they have
shorter lifespans than lower-mass stars, they reach the end of their
lives much faster, dying in violent supernova explosions.
This research was possible thanks to observations of the Galactic central region done with ESO’s HAWK-I instrument on the VLT in the Chilean Atacama Desert. This infrared-sensitive camera peered through the dust to give us a remarkably detailed image of the Milky Way’s central region, published in October in Astronomy & Astrophysics by Nogueras-Lara and a team of astronomers from Spain, the US, Japan and Germany. The stunning image shows the galaxy’s densest region of stars, gas and dust, which also hosts a supermassive black hole, with an angular resolution of 0.2 arcseconds. This means the level of detail picked up by HAWK-I is roughly equivalent to seeing a football (soccer ball) in Zurich from Munich, where ESO’s headquarters are located.
This research was possible thanks to observations of the Galactic central region done with ESO’s HAWK-I instrument on the VLT in the Chilean Atacama Desert. This infrared-sensitive camera peered through the dust to give us a remarkably detailed image of the Milky Way’s central region, published in October in Astronomy & Astrophysics by Nogueras-Lara and a team of astronomers from Spain, the US, Japan and Germany. The stunning image shows the galaxy’s densest region of stars, gas and dust, which also hosts a supermassive black hole, with an angular resolution of 0.2 arcseconds. This means the level of detail picked up by HAWK-I is roughly equivalent to seeing a football (soccer ball) in Zurich from Munich, where ESO’s headquarters are located.
This image is the first release of the GALACTICNUCLEUS
survey. This programme relied on the large field of view and high
angular resolution of HAWK-I on ESO’s VLT to produce a beautifully sharp
image of the central region of our galaxy. The survey studied over
three million stars, covering an area corresponding to more than 60 000
square light-years at the distance of the Galactic centre (one
light-year is about 9.5 trillion kilometres).
More Information
This research was presented in the paper “GALACTICNUCLEUS: A high angular resolution JHKs
imaging survey of the Galactic Centre: II. First data release of the
catalogue and the most detailed CMDs of the GC” published in Astronomy
& Astrophysics and in “Early formation and recent starburst activity
in the nuclear disc of the Milky Way” to appear in Nature Astronomy (doi: 10.1038/s41550-019-0967-9).
The team of the Astronomy & Astrophysics paper
is composed of F. Nogueras-Lara (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía,
Granada, Spain [IAA-CSIC]), R. Schödel (IAA-CSIC), A. T.
Gallego-Calvente (IAA-CSIC), H. Dong (IAA-CSIC), E. Gallego-Cano (IAA
and Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán, Almería, Spain), B. Shahzamanian
(IAA-CSIC), J. H. V. Girard (Space Telescope Science Institute,
Baltimore, USA), S. Nishiyama (Miyagi University of Education, Sendai,
Japan), F. Najarro (Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiología
CAB (CSIC-INTA), Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain), N. Neumayer (Max Planck
Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany).
The team of the Nature Astronomy paper is composed
of F. Nogueras-Lara (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Granada,
Spain [IAA-CSIC]), R. Schödel (IAA-CSIC), A. T. Gallego-Calvente
(IAA-CSIC), E. Gallego-Cano (IAA-CSIC), B. Shahzamanian (IAA-CSIC), H.
Dong (IAA-CSIC), N. Neumayer (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy,
Heidelberg, Germany), M. Hilker (European Southern Observatory, Garching
bei München, Germany), F. Najarro (Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro
de Astrobiología, Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain), S. Nishiyama (Miyagi
University of Education, Sendai, Japan), A. Feldmeier-Krause (The
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The University of Chicago,
Chicago, US), J. H. V. Girard (Space Telescope Science Institute,
Baltimore, USA) and S. Cassisi (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of
Abruzzo, Teramo, Italy).
ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy
organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based
astronomical observatory by far. It has 16 Member States: Austria,
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with
Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme
focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful
ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important
scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and
organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three
unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and
Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its
world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey
telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT
Survey Telescope. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the
Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive
gamma-ray observatory. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on
Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in
existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the
39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the
world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Links
Contacts
Francisco Nogueras-Lara
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Heidelberg, Germany
Tel: +49 6221 528-393
Email: nogueras@mpia.de
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Heidelberg, Germany
Tel: +49 6221 528-393
Email: nogueras@mpia.de
Rainer Schödel
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)
Granada, Spain
Tel: +34 958 230 529
Email: rainer@iaa.es
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)
Granada, Spain
Tel: +34 958 230 529
Email: rainer@iaa.es
Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
Cell: +49 151 241 664 00
Email: pio@eso.org
Source: ESO/News
