Sagittarius A West Radial Velocity Map

Image of the radial velocities (velocities toward/away from us) of hot, ionized gas in the inner 2 parsecs of the Galactic center. Blue and magenta colors represent gas moving toward us. Green and red colors show gas moving away from us. The motions show the influence of the gravity near the Galactic center, which is dominated by a mass a few million times that of our Sun. This massive object is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy.

Image of the radial velocities of hot, ionized gas in the inner 2 parsecs of the Galactic center. The radial velocities were determined from fitting Gaussian profiles to a final data cube obtained from the Very Large Array over the course of a year. The velocity resolution of the data in the cube is 14 km/s and velocities from -200 to +200 km/s, with respect to the local standard of rest were sampled. The angular resolution of this image is 2 arcseconds. Blue and magenta colors represent negative velocities (gas moving toward us). Green and red colors show positive velocities (gas moving away from us). The motions show the influence of the gravity near the Galactic center, which is dominated by a mass a few million times that of our Sun. This massive object is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy.

Legacy Astronomical Images

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Legacy Astronomical Image

Sgr A West

D.A. Roberts, W.M. Goss

Very Large Array (VLA)

1990-10-01

spectral line

RA 17:42:29.300, Dec: -28:59:17.000 (B1950)

0.028333 x 0.028333 degrees

Galactic Sources Series

Galactic Center Unit