Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 February 2
   [2]The featured image shows the very center of our Milky Way Galaxy as
    resolved by the MeerKAT array in radio light. Many supernova remnants
   and unusual filaments are visible. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                  The Galactic Center in Radio from MeerKAT
        Image Credit: [3]Ian Heywood ([4]Oxford U.), [5]SARAO; Color
              Processing: [6]Juan Carlos Munoz-Mateos ([7]ESO)

   Explanation: What's happening at the center of our galaxy? It's hard to
   tell with optical telescopes since [8]visible light is blocked by
   intervening interstellar dust. In other bands of light, though, such as
   [9]radio, the [10]galactic center can be imaged and shows itself to be
   quite an [11]interesting and active place. The [12]featured picture
   shows the latest image of our Milky Way's center by the [13]MeerKAT
   array of 64 radio dishes in [14]South Africa. Spanning four times the
   angular size of [15]the Moon (2 [16]degrees), the image is impressively
   vast, deep, and detailed. [17]Many known sources are shown in clear
   detail, including many with a prefix of Sgr, since the [18]galactic
   center is in the direction of the [19]constellation Sagittarius. In our
   Galaxy's Center lies [20]Sgr A, found here in the image center, which
   houses the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. Other sources
   in the image are not as well understood, including [21]the Arc, just to
   the left of [22]Sgr A, and numerous filamentary threads. [23]Goals for
   MeerKAT include searching for radio emission from neutral hydrogen
   emitted in a much younger universe and brief but distant [24]radio
   flashes.

    Open Science: [25]Browse 2,700+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
                                   Library
                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply.
              [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2202/MwCenter_MeerKATMunoz_7530.jpg
   3. https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/Heywood
   4. https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/
   5. https://www.sarao.ac.za/
   6. https://twitter.com/astro_jcm
   7. https://www.eso.org/
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/05_radiowaves
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180729.html
  11. https://www.sarao.ac.za/media-releases/new-meerkat-radio-image-reveals-complex-heart-of-the-milky-way/
  12. https://flickr.com/photos/astro_jcm/51847931721/
  13. https://www.sarao.ac.za/gallery/meerkat/
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa
  15. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/
  16. https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/degrees.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020803.html
  18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXAU0gzsPOw
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_(constellation)
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020521.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180122.html
  23. https://www.sarao.ac.za/large-survey-projects/
  24. http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/F/Fast+Radio+Bursts
  25. https://ascl.net/code/all
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220201.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220202
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220203.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/