Unveiling The Milky Way

Researchers have produced the largest, highest-resolution radio image ever of the Milky Way's center. The new radio image reveals many new features that cannot be seen in visible light, including a new supernova remnant, numerous pulsar candidates, and several new "threads," or filamentary structures. This new imaging technique, developed by researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., will serve as a useful tool for astronomers because it displays all of the major components of the Milky Way's central region in a single image. The picture is featured in the Jan. 22 issue of Science Magazine, page 483. It also can be accessed from the NRL web site at http://rsd-www.nrl.navy.mil/7213/lazio/GC/ .