|
|
Article: Studying one galaxy by looking at another. (Andromeda galaxy's core may mimic our own galaxy's core)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- June 8, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
A haze of dust prevents astronomers from clearly viewing the center of the Milky Way. But by observing Andromeda, the nearest similar galaxy, researchers have identified features that may mimic those at our own galaxy's core.
The X-ray picture at left, taken last year by the U.S.-British-German research satellite ROSAT and released last week, depicts Andromeda's X-ray core in unprecedented detail. It shows about 70 bright X-ray sources at the core, including 14 dense star regions known as globular clusters. Only 38 of these sources -- eight of them globular clusters -- appeared in observations by the orbiting Einstein Observatory in 1979 (image on right), note ...