Sagittarius A West Radial Velocity Map
Description
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.
Creator
Legacy Astronomical Images
Rights
NRAO/AUI/NSF does not hold full copyright for this image. Contact the archivist for details.
Type
Legacy Astronomical Image
Object Name
Sgr A West
Investigators
D.A. Roberts, W.M. Goss
Telescope
Very Large Array (VLA)
Observation Date
1990-10-01
Type of Observation
spectral line
Center of Image
RA 17:42:29.300, Dec: -28:59:17.000 (B1950)
Field of View
0.028333 x 0.028333 degrees
Link to journal article
Series
Galactic Sources Series
Unit
Galactic Center Unit
Citation
Legacy Astronomical Images, “Sagittarius A West Radial Velocity Map,” NRAO/AUI Archives, accessed August 17, 2024, https://www.nrao.edu/archives/items/show/33444.