The Galactic Center Across the Infrared

The center of our Galaxy is obscured in visible light by dark dust that rotates with the stars in the Galactic Plane . In this century, however, sensors have been developed that can detect light more red that humans can see - light called infrared . The above picture shows what the Galactic Center looks like in three increasingly red bands of near-infrared light. The picture results from a digital combination of data recently taken by the 2MASS and MSX Galactic surveys. In near- infrared light (shown in blue) the dust is less opaque and many previously shrouded red giant stars become visible. In the mid-infrared (shown in red) the dust itself glows brightly, but allows us a view very close to our tumultuous and mysterious Galactic Center .