How do you see the center of the Milky Way?

Scientists
South Africans have revealed the clearest image ever taken from the center of the Way
Milky, occupied by a huge black hole, thanks to a new radio telescope
called MeerKAT.

"The
center of the galaxy was an obvious goal: unique, visually striking and
full of unexplained phenomena. But it is also notoriously difficult to be
captured in image with radio telescopes, "Fernando said in a statement.
Camilo, chief scientist of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO,
for its acronym in English).

Photo obtained by the MeerKAT telescope. (GDA)

Infrared,
X-rays and radio waves

The center of
the Milky Way is 25,000 light-years away from Earth, behind the constellation
Sagittarius, and is constantly enveloped in clouds of gas and dust, which
makes our planet invisible to normal telescopes.

However,
Infrared technology, X-rays and radio waves can penetrate
in the obstacles and "open a window" to the black hole of 4
millions of solar masses (a solar mass is a unit of measure equivalent to
the mass of the Sun) located in the center of the galaxy.

L & # 39; Image
published today by the South African team covers an area of ​​1000 light-years
500 light-years, with a clear region in its middle corresponding to
center of the galaxy.

"Although
are the first days with the MeerKAT and there is still a lot to optimize, we decided to go
for this reason and we are amazed with the results, "said Camilo, according to
the text disseminated by the SKA Africa project, dedicated to the construction of
radio telescopes.

The SKA, in
which is part of the MeerKAT, is a project involving eleven countries
-Germany, Australia, Canada, China, Holland, India, Italy, New Zealand,
The United Kingdom, South Africa and Sweden – and in which twenty others collaborate,
Spain

The lens
is to build the largest radio telescope in Australia and South Africa
world, which will be able to capture images with a resolution 50 times higher than
taken by Hubble, in what is one of the biggest scientific challenges and
history technology.

The MeerKAT,
whose construction lasted a decade and which is one of the precursors of the SKA,
was officially inaugurated today at an event in the presence of the Vice President
of South Africa, David Mabuza, and operates in the semi-arid region of Karoo, in the province
North Cape (North West).

currently the most powerful telescope in the southern hemisphere of the planet and counts
with 64 satellite dishes 13.5 meters in diameter each.