The Milky Way galaxy is quite the hub: A black hole the weighs four million times as much as the sun is circled by millions of stars that whip around it at breakneck speeds. However, this area, which filled with intense X-ray radiation and ultraviolet light, is obscured from our view.
Even though we can’t see the Milky Way’s bustling center, NASA’s upcoming James Webb Telescope will help us see this interesting spot. It’s designed to observe the universe in infrared light, which is invisible to our eyes, but critical for analyzing astronomical objects concealed by dust. Once it’s launched, Webb will collect infrared light that pierced through the Milky Way’s hazy cover and reveal its galactic center in high-res detail.
“We’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg from the ground,” said Torsten Böker of the European Space Agency and STScI. “Webb will be able to study fainter stars and tell us more about the overall stellar population.”
The black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is more mysterious and Webb aims to explore it more.
Scientists have already spotted low-mass infant stars forming close to the back hole. Even though the black hole’s harsh radiation environment and gravity should disrupt gas clouds, these baby stars, also known as protostars, have thrived. Webb may show us how these protostars are forming and why they’re populating this dark, vast space.
Webb may also be able to detect the disk around the black hole. Astronomers have already pointed out flares of light when the black hole sucked in material, however, they have not been able to observe a glow from the black hole’s disk.
In a recent update (https://t.co/CSdQ3tlFyB), we showed you photos of our techs & engineers successfully connecting the two halves of the #NASAWebb observatory at @NorthropGrumman. Here is a video with new views of this mission milestone: pic.twitter.com/mAZCvhBeKx
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) October 9, 2019
“Does the black hole come first and stars form around it? Do stars gather together and collide to form the black hole? These are questions we want to answer,” said Jay Anderson of STScI, a co-investigator on one of the studies.
Webb, which is expected to launch in 2021, will aim to explore the mysteries of the solar system, investigate distant worlds around other stars, and analyze other strange structures within our universe.
More on Geek.com:
- Study: The Milky Way’s Center Exploded 3.5M Years Ago
- NASA’s Spitzer Captures Vibrant ‘Cosmic Bubble Bath’ in Milky Way
- Milky Way ‘Ate’ a Nearby Dwarf Galaxy 10 Billion Years Ago, Study Finds
from Geek.com https://ift.tt/2nzh3yJ
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment