ALMA Reveals Detailed Image of Milky Way's Central Gases

A telescope array in Chile has captured the most detailed image yet of the turbulent star-forming gases swirling at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, offering astronomers a clearer view into one of the universe's most dynamic regions.

The image, released Wednesday by the European Southern Observatory, focuses on a vast expanse of cold cosmic gases spanning more than 650 light-years, an immense distance equivalent to nearly 4 quintillion miles given that one light-year measures about 6 trillion miles. These clouds of gas and dust encircle the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* at the galaxy's core. Captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, located in the arid Atacama Desert, the photograph represents the largest mosaic ever produced by the network of 66 antennas, which work together to simulate a single giant telescope.

The Central Molecular Zone, as this area is called, is a hotbed of stellar activity where intense radiation, magnetic fields and gravitational forces create extreme conditions for star birth. Previously invisible to optical telescopes due to the obscuring dust, the region now appears in sharp relief through ALMA's...