NASA Releases Extraordinary New Photo of Milky Way’s Bustling Cosmic ‘Downtown’

NASA Releases Extraordinary New Photo of Milky Way’s Bustling Cosmic ‘Downtown’
NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang, NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT via AP
The Associated Press
Updated:

NASA has released a stunning new picture of our galaxy’s violent, super-energized “downtown.”

It’s a composite of 370 observations over the past two decades by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, depicting billions of stars and countless black holes in the center, or heart, of the Milky Way. A radio telescope in South Africa also contributed to the image, for contrast.