Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 April 14 [2]The featured image shows the very center of our Milky Way Galaxy as resolved by the MeerKAT array in radio light. Many supernova remnants and unusual filaments are visible. At the upper right is an inset image of a small region taken in infrared by JWST. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Galactic Center in Radio from MeerKAT Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]CSA, [6]STScI, [7]SARAO, [8]S. Crowe ([9]UVA), J. Bally (CU), R. Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), I. Heywood (Oxford) Explanation: What's happening at the center of our galaxy? It's hard to tell with optical telescopes since [10]visible light is blocked by intervening interstellar dust. In other bands of light, though, such as [11]radio, the [12]galactic center can be imaged and shows itself to be quite an [13]interesting and active place. The [14]featured picture shows an image of our Milky Way's center by the [15]MeerKAT array of 64 radio dishes in [16]South Africa. Spanning four times the angular size of [17]the Moon (2 [18]degrees), the image is impressively vast, deep, and detailed. [19]Many known sources are shown in clear detail, including many with a prefix of Sgr, since the [20]galactic center is in the direction of the [21]constellation Sagittarius. In our galaxy's center lies [22]Sgr A, found here in the image center, which houses the [23]Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. Other sources in the image are not as well understood, including [24]the Arc, just to the left of [25]Sgr A, and numerous filamentary threads. The [26]inset image shows a small patch recently imaged in [27]infrared light with the [28]James Webb Space Telescope to [29]investigate the effects of magnetic fields on star formation. Open Science: [30]Browse 3,600+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library Tomorrow's picture: star cylinder __________________________________________________________________ [31]< | [32]Archive | [33]Submissions | [34]Index | [35]Search | [36]Calendar | [37]RSS | [38]Education | [39]About APOD | [40]Discuss | [41]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [42]Robert Nemiroff ([43]MTU) & [44]Jerry Bonnell ([45]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [46]Specific rights apply. [47]NASA Web Privacy, [48]Accessibility, [49]Notices; A service of: [50]ASD at [51]NASA / [52]GSFC, [53]NASA Science Activation & [54]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2504/GCenter_MeerKatWebb_7642.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/ 6. https://www.stsci.edu/ 7. https://www.sarao.ac.za/ 8. https://www.samcroweastro.com/ 9. https://astronomy.as.virginia.edu/ 10. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight 11. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/05_radiowaves 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241124.html 13. https://www.sarao.ac.za/media-releases/new-meerkat-radio-image-reveals-complex-heart-of-the-milky-way/ 14. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2025/115/01JQ7CMZNPQSCT4TD0Q1M1F66M 15. https://www.sarao.ac.za/gallery/meerkat/ 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa 17. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/ 18. https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/degrees.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020803.html 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXAU0gzsPOw 21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_(constellation) 22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220513.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020521.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180122.html 26. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2025/115/01JQ7CMZNPQSCT4TD0Q1M1F66M 27. https://webbtelescope.org/science/the-observatory/infrared-astronomy 28. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/ 29. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQsgYmFcVdx1JScI0IMUjsBrVQqJtvNAB7xQw&s 30. https://ascl.net/code/all 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250413.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 37. https://apod.com/feed.rss 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 40. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250414 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250415.html 42. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 43. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 44. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 45. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 46. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 47. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 48. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 49. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 50. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 51. https://www.nasa.gov/ 52. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 53. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 54. http://www.mtu.edu/