Article - GCNEWS, Vol. 23, March 2006

GCNEWS

A Newsletter for Galactic Center Research
This Volume was edited by Sera Markoff, Loránt Sjouwerman, Joseph Lazio, Cornelia Lang, Rainer Schödel & Robin Herrnstein
email: gcnews@aoc.nrao.edu



Volume 23, March 2006 - ARTICLE

[Home] [New Abstracts] [Newsletter] [Newsflash] [Articles] [Conferences] [Subscribers] [Subscription] [Submission]

[Next page] [Previous page] [Cover page]


The Spitzer View of the Galactic Center

Courtesy of Susan Stolovy

On the cover of this issue is one of the first Spitzer images of the GC, unveiled by Stolovy et al. at the recent American Astronomical Society meeting. Using the IRAC instrument, they conducted a survey of the central 2o * 1.5o (280 * 210 pc) of the Galaxy at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron . These images have an angular resolution of 2'', corresponding to 0.08 pc at the GC, making them the highest spatial resolution and sensitivity large-scale map made to date of the GC at mid-infrared wavelengths.

While analysis of these images is on-going, several aspects are already clear. Much of the dust and the absorption is in highly filamentary structure in the interstellar medium. At the longer wavelengths, much of the interstellar emission is dominated by PAH emission from small grains in star-forming regions. Comparisons with other wavelengths may provide indications of the relative locations of many of these features.

Stay tuned for many additional results from these fascinating images.


Figure 2: : These three images show the same field of view at wavelengths ranging from 1.25 micron (2MASS) to 8.0 micron (IRAC). They illustrate dramatically the need for longer IR wavelength studies to penetrate the severe interstellar extinction toward the GC. The IRAC 3.6 micron image is dominated by red giants and AGB stars. The diffuse ISM structures in the IRAC 8.0 micron image are dominated by emission from small dust grains (PAHs) in star forming regions. (Click here for PostScript (top,middle,bottom) versions.)

[Next page]
[Home] [New Abstracts] [Newsletter] [Newsflash] [Articles] [Conferences] [Subscribers] [Subscription] [Submission]

Credits:

  • The GCNEWS Logo at the top of this page shows a 20cm radio map of the GC (Sgr A) made by Yusef-Zadeh & Morris.
  • The GCNEWS newsletters, newsflashes and web pages are based on scripts originally developed by Heino Falcke.
  • Internet access for GCNEWS is currently sponsored by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro NM/USA.
    Page currently maintained by L. O. Sjouwerman. File last modified on Friday 03 March 2006 [09:30 MST].
    [Home] [New Abstracts] [Newsletter] [Newsflash] [Articles] [Conferences] [Subscribers] [Subscription] [Submission]