NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has given us a keyhole view towards the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, where a dazzling array of stars reside. Most of the view of our galaxy is obscured by dust. Hubble peered into the Sagittarius Star Cloud, a narrow, dust-free region, providing this spectacular glimpse of a treasure chest full of stars. Some of these gems are among the oldest inhabitants of our galaxy. By studying the older stars that pack our Milky Way's hub, scientists can learn more about the evolution of our galaxy.
Many of the brighter stars in this image show vivid colors. A star's color reveals its temperature, one of its most "vital statistics." Knowing a star's temperature and the power of the star's radiation allow scientists to make conclusions about its age and mass. Most blue stars are young and hot, up to ten times hotter than our Sun. They consume their fuel much faster and live shorter lives than our Sun. Red stars come in two flavors: small stars and "red giants". Smaller red stars generally have a temperature about half that of our Sun, consuming their fuel slowly and thus, live the longest. "Red giant" stars are at the end of their lives because they have exhausted their fuel. Although many "red giant" stars may have been ordinary stars like our Sun, as they die they swell up in size, become much cooler, and are much more luminous then they were during the majority of their stellar life.
Credits
Image
AURA, STScI, NASA, Hubble Heritage Project (STScI, AURA)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | SGR-I |
| Object Description | Star Field |
| R.A. Position | 17h 59m 00.63s |
| Dec. Position | -29° 12' 13.34" |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Distance | 25,000 light-years (8,000 parsecs) |
| Dimensions | The image is 1.8 arcminutes (13.3 light-years or 4 parsecs) across. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Principal Astronomers: J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), J. Holtzman (New Mexico State University), and collaborators |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | August 21, 1994, Exposure Time: 2.8 hours |
| Filters | F439W (B), F555W (V), and F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Blue: F439W (B) Green: F555W (V) Red: F814W (I) |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
