Great Observatories Galactic Center Region Image Unveiling Science Telecon. October 6, 2009

Transcription

1 Great Observatories Galactic Center Region Image Unveiling Science Telecon October 6,

2 Multiwavelength Observations Dr. Frank Summers 2

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5 Support Web Site Generic press release Generic media alert Composite image caption (PDF) 5

6 Hubble Space Telescope Visible, ultraviolet, and infrared observations nanometers 2.4 meter mirror Launched April 1990 Low Earth orbit 600 km 97 minutes Baltimore, MD 6

7 Chandra X-ray Observatory X-ray observations nanometers 4 cylindrical mirrors Launched July 1999 Elliptical orbit thousand km 64 hr 18 min Boston, MA 7

8 Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared observations microns 0.85 meter mirror Launched August 2003 May 2009 warm mission Earth-trailing orbit 0.1 AU per year Pasadena, CA 8

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12 Spitzer Hubble Chandra Compton 12

13 Galactic Center Region 13

14 90 degrees wide 14

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16 12 degrees 16

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18 4 degrees 18

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20 1 degree 20

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22 0.4 degrees 22

23 Hubble near infrared 23

24 Spitzer infrared 24

25 Chandra x-rays 25

26 Spitzer Space Telescope Dr. Susan Stolovy 26

27 The Galactic Center as Seen From the Spitzer Space Telescope/IRAC Dr. Susan Stolovy (PI) Spitzer Science Center/Caltech 27

28 Why Observe the Galactic Center with Spitzer? The Galactic Center (GC) is invisible at optical wavelengths ( microns) from Earth even with the largest telescope imaginable! The interstellar dust in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy absorbs the light from the center, which is 26,000 light years away from us. Spitzer s mid-infrared cameras see through the dust and can cover large areas efficiently. Artist s schematic of Milky Way Galaxy (arrow connects the Solar System and the GC) Image courtesy R. Hurt, SSC 28

29 The 4 IRAC cameras give us a view extending all the way to the GC: stars (mostly red giants), warm dust, and dark clouds 29

30 The GC is revealed at longer infrared wavelengths! 30

31 Spitzer/IRAC Galactic Center (GC) survey details Field of View covered: 890 x 640 light years assuming the distance to the GC is 26,000 light years Area in sky covered is 1.9 x 1.4 degrees (roughly equivalent to area 14 full moons would cover) Observed with 4 mid-infrared cameras from Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 microns 3.6 and 4.5 microns show mostly stars and 5.8 and 8.0 show both stars and warm, glowing dust. The glowing dust emission seen in the IRAC images is mostly from tiny, sootlike particles called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH s). These particles exist on Earth as pollution! IRAC survey took only 16 hours of telescope time to complete 31

32 8 Micron Image of Galactic Center 32

33 8 Micron image close-ups showing examples of regions where massive stars have recently formed million solar mass black hole hiding here Quintuplet cluster 33

34 34 Radio emission is bright at Sgr A* (black hole), supernova remnants, star forming regions, and mysterious linear filaments near strong magnetic fields

35 Some Spitzer/IRAC Galactic Center Results Largest, most sensitive, highest resolution (1-2 ) map of the GC at mid-infrared wavelengths We see spectacular, complex structure in glowing dust emission, from compact globules to long, stringy filaments Over one million stars detected in the survey, but region is so crowded that there are many more that we can t detect Dark, obscuring clouds seen at many scales Star-forming regions imaged at GC distance and in spiral arms along the line of sight Follow-up spectroscopy from Spitzer/IRS has led to discovery of young stellar objects (baby stars) in the GC (An et al. 2009, submitted to ApJL) 35

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37 Spitzer s view of the Galactic Center 3.6 microns=blue, 4.5 microns=green, 5.8 microns=orange and 8.0 microns=red 37

38 Hubble Space Telescope Dr. Susan Stolovy 38

39 The Galactic Center as Seen from the Hubble Space Telescope/NICMOS Dr. Susan Stolovy Spitzer Science Center/Caltech PI: D. Wang, UMASS 39

40 The HST survey of ionized hydrogen gas (Paschen alpha) in Galactic Center (GC) was observed using the near-infrared camera on Hubble called NICMOS (Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer) Although there is still much absorption of light at a wavelength of 1.9 microns from the GC by interstellar dust, enough light gets through in deep exposures to make a large-scale map of the ionized gas possible to make. This is the sharpest image ever of such a large region in the GC; it reveals much about how massive stars form, evolve, and interact with their environment 40

41 HST/NICMOS GC survey details Field of view covered: 270 x 90 light years assuming the distance to the Galactic Center is 26,000 light years Area in sky covered is 0.6 x 0.2 degrees, roughly equivalent to area of covered by 1/2 full moon; (it s cropped to a smaller area in press image, however, about 0.4 degrees across in panel b ) The Paschen series of hydrogen spectral lines in the infrared is named after the German physicist Louis Paschen, who discovered them in 1908 (the alpha line, at 1.87 microns, is the strongest of the series). The Earth s atmosphere absorbs this line from celestial sources, so we need a telescope in space to observe it. NICMOS observations made in 2 narrow-band filters with wavelengths of 1.87 microns and 1.90 microns. Paschen alpha emission arises from ionized hydrogen gas that excited by hot stars. Took 144 orbits of telescope time to complete: this is the largest area ever covered by NICMOS by a single program. The data have 10 times better resolution (sharpness) than the Spitzer/IRAC data. 41

42 Making Paschen Alpha images a) F187N filter b) continuum (F190N) subtracted c) stars removed HST figures from Wang et al., submitted Sept. 2009, MNRAS 42

43 1.87 micron image: we detect 600,000 stars! Note also the dark foreground dust clouds Paschen alpha image This shows ionized hydrogen emission near sites of massive stars 43

44 a) The central few light years b) the Pistol, Quintuplet and Sickle, c) The Arched filaments: linear features trace local magnetic field fingers sculpted by winds from hot stars in Quintuplet cluster Location of black hole (radio source known as Sgr A*) 44

45 Close-ups of Selected Nebulae from Pa alpha mosaic of Galactic Center Several of these are newly discovered Horizontal bar in each figure shows 0.2 parsecs=0.65 light years 45

46 Some results from the HST data Sharpest view ever of the Galactic Center in a large-scale map; shows clear signs of interaction of massive stars with environment: fingers, bubbles, outflows, etc. Amazing network of long, straight filaments seen in great detail for first time in ionized gas; some of them follow magnetic field lines; New compact nebulae discovered with young massive stars, ranging from early to late stages of star formation Many candidate massive stars identified by bright Pa alpha emission. Some are located OUTSIDE the 3 known clusters in the GC; they may have been thrown out of parent clusters or formed outside clusters Spectroscopic follow-up shows that many are exotic stars with strong winds. They will explode as supernovae in the future and will have a large impact on future star formation processes in the GC. 46

47 Chandra X-ray Observatory Dr. Peter Edmonds 47

48 An X-ray view of the Galactic Center Chandra image What do the colors mean in this image? - red: lowest energy X-rays - green: medium energy X-rays - blue: highest energy X-rays 48

49 OVERVIEW Chandra image is a mixture of: - hot gas, e.g. remnants of supernovas - point sources of different types - star clusters SOME DETAILS - Sagittarius A: contains the center of the galaxy and a supermassive black hole - Arches and Quintuplet are star clusters - 1E is a double star 49

50 Sagittarius A* -- The nearest supermassive black hole to us -- Weighs about 4 million times the Sun -- Area close to it is currently surprisingly dim -- This area was much brighter in the past 50

51 Sgr A* s bigger, more active cousins MS 0735 Hydra A Black holes are messy eaters -- Material around BH heats up and glows close-up (artist s impression) -- Most of the inflowing material swallowed by BH - -- Some is flung outwards along jets/outflows -- Sgr A* was more like this in the past 51

52 Light echo from Sagittarius A* -- Area near black hole was about 100,000 - times brighter 50 years earlier -- Light reflected off clouds 50 yrs later -- Mass equal to about that of Mercury - was swallowed by the black hole Artist s impression of what happened 52

53 More information and graphics at: General information about Chandra science and program: Related Chandra products available: Chandra Explores the Milky Way: 38x23" Poster, 8 1/2x 11" Litho, 6x8" Postcard, 2x8" Bookmark 53

54 Final Thoughts 54

55 Further Discussion Image Unveiling Google Group Should have received invitation Send to Carolyn to add others groups.google.com/group/iya-image-unveiling Open discussion Ask questions Share ideas Discuss event planning 55