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Herschel
Space Observatory

An ESA Mission
with Participation from NASA

Nhsc2011-013a1

The Milky Way's Twisted Ring (annotated)

In a strange twist of science, astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory have discovered that a suspected ring at the center of our galaxy is warped for reasons they cannot explain. This image from Herschel, an infrared European Space Agency-led mission with important NASA contributions, reveals the ring with greater clarity than ever before. It can be seen as the yellow loop that appears to have two lobes, highlighted here with a white ribbon overlay. In fact, the ring, which is a collection of very dense and cold gas and dust, is twisted so that part of it rises above and below the plane of our Milky Way galaxy.

Previous observations had revealed portions of the ring. Herschel sees long-wavelength infrared light, which can penetrate through the murky region at the center of our galaxy, allowing Herschel to get a more complete view.

Astronomers aren't sure how rings like this form in galaxies but some theories suggest they arise out of gravitational disturbances with neighboring galaxies. New stars are thought to be forming in the dense gas making up the ring.

The ring stretches across more than 300 light-years of space, and is about 15 Kelvin (minus 433 degrees Fahrenheit). The warmest material in this picture is blue, and the coldest is red.

The image was taken using two of Herschel's instruments -- the photodetector array camera and spectrometer (70-micron-light is coded blue; 160-micron light is coded green) and the spectral and photometric imaging receiver (350-micron light is red).

Image Details
Date
July 19, 2011
ID
nhsc2011-013a1
Type
Observation
Credit
ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Object Details
Name
Milky Way
Galactic Center
Subject | Milky Way
Nebula Type Interstellar Medium
Nebula Type Star Formation
Galaxy Component Center/Core
Galaxy Component Ring
Distance
Lightyears 21,000
Constellation
Sagittarius
Color Mapping
Telescope Spectral Band Color Assigment Wavelength
Herschel (PACS) Infrared (Far-IR) Blue 70.0 µm
Herschel (PACS) Infrared (Far-IR) Green 160.0 µm
Herschel (SPIRE) Infrared (Far-IR) Red 250.0 µm