Pan of The Milky Way Galaxy's Center: Sagittarius C | Webb Telescope

Pan of The Milky Way Galaxy's Center: Sagittarius C | Webb Telescope

The full view of the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals a 50 light-years-wide portion of the Milky Way’s dense center. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region, along with as-yet unidentified features.

A vast region of ionized hydrogen, shown in cyan, wraps around an infrared-dark cloud. This is so dense that it blocks the light from distant stars behind it. Intriguing needle-like structures in the ionized hydrogen emission lack any uniform orientation. Researchers note the surprising extent of the ionized region, covering about 25 light-years.

A cluster of protostars—stars that are still forming and gaining mass—are producing outflows that glow like a bonfire at the base of the large infrared-dark cloud, indicating that they are emerging from the cloud’s protective cocoon and will soon join the ranks of the more mature stars around them. Smaller infrared-dark clouds dot the scene, appearing like holes in the starfield.

Researchers say they have only begun to dig into the wealth of unprecedented high-resolution data that Webb has provided on this region, and many features bear detailed study. This includes the rose-colored clouds on the right side of the image, which have never been seen in such detail.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, STScI, S. Crowe (UVA), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Nov. 20, 2023

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