dense molecular clouds tagged posts

An infrared and multi-wavelength image of the Central Molecular Zone in the Milky Way. Dense gas is shown in red, and warm and cold dust in green and blue respectively. Several key objects in the region are labeled, along with a set of embedded young stellar clusters seen at 24 microns. Credit: C. Battersby

The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies ~27,000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius. At its core is a black hole ~4 million solar masses in size. Around the black hole is a donut-shaped structure about 8 light-years across that rings the inner volume of neutral gas and thousands of individual stars. Around that, stretching out to ~700 light-years, is a dense zone of activity called the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ)...