NRAO: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

About this Image

Image of the radial velocities (velocities toward/away from us) of hot, ionized gas in the inner 2 parsecs of the Galactic center. Blue and magenta colors represent gas moving toward us. Green and red colors show gas moving away from us. The motions show the influence of the gravity near the Galactic center, which is dominated by a mass a few million times that of our Sun. This massive object is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy.

Investigator(s):  Roberts, D.A., Goss, W.M.

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This image is available in the following downloadable versions:

• 467 x 467 color JPEG

If you would like to obtain a higher resolution version of this image, please contact Pat Smiley.

For More Information

• Read the Journal article
• Up one level for more info on Galactic_Center
• For unfamiliar terms, visit the NRAO Radio Astronomy Glossary

Technical Data

Telescope	VLA
Date of Observation	1990-10-01
Type of Observation	Spectral Line Observations
Center of Image	RA: 17:42:29.30, Dec: -28:59:17.00 (B1950)
Field of View	0.0283 x 0.0283 degrees
Technical Caption	Image of the radial velocities of hot, ionized gas in the inner 2 parsecs of the Galactic center. The radial velocities were determined from fitting Gaussian profiles to a final data cube obtained from the Very Large Array over the course of a year. The velocity resolution of the data in the cube is 14 km/s and velocities from -200 to +200 km/s, with respect to the local standard of rest were sampled. The angular resolution of this image is 2 arcseconds. Blue and magenta colors represent negative velocities (gas moving toward us). Green and red colors show positive velocities (gas moving away from us). The motions show the influence of the gravity near the Galactic center, which is dominated by a mass a few million times that of our Sun. This massive object is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy.



Astronomical database entries for Sgr A West
• Query SIMBAD for more Sgr A West data

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