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The Milky Way in Infrared
| Title |
The Milky Way in Infrared |
| Explanation |
At night, from a dark location, part of the clear sky looks milky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980523.html ]. This unusual swath of dim light is generally visible during any month and from any location. Until the invention of the telescope [ http://es.rice.edu:80/ES/humsoc/Galileo/People/lipperhey.html ], nobody really knew what the "Milky Way" was. About 300 years ago telescopes caused a startling revelation: the Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/1920/cs_lplan.html ] was made of stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#star ]. Only 70 years ago, more powerful telescopes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950701.html ] brought the further revelation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/debate/debate20.html ] that the Milky Way is only one galaxy among many. Now telescopes in space allow yet deeper understanding. The above picture [ http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/html/milky_way.html ] was taken by the COBE satellite [ http://arcturus.mit.edu/gallery/cobe.html ] and shows the plane of our Galaxy in infrared light [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/discovery.html ]. The thin disk of our home spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/spiral_galaxies.html ] is clearly apparent, with stars appearing white and interstellar dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990509.html ] appearing red. |
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The Milky Way in Infrared
| Title |
The Milky Way in Infrared |
| Explanation |
At night, from a dark location, part of the clear sky looks milky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970517.html ]. This unusual swath of dim light is generally visible during any month and from any location. Until the invention of the telescope [ http://es.rice.edu:80/ES/humsoc/Galileo/People/lipperhey.html ], nobody really knew what the "Milky Way" was. About 300 years ago telescopes caused a startling revelation: the Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/1920/cs_lplan.html ] was made of stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#stars ]. Only 70 years ago, more powerful telescopes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950701.html ] brought the further revelation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate20.html ] that the Milky Way is only one galaxy among many. Now telescopes in space allow yet deeper understanding. The above picture [ http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/html/milky_way.html ] was taken by the COBE satellite [ http://arcturus.mit.edu/gallery/cobe.html ] and shows the plane of our Galaxy in infrared light [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/discovery.html ]. The thin disk of our home spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/spirals.html ] is clearly apparent, with stars appearing white and interstellar dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961119.html ] appearing red. |
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