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High energy radiation, such as ultraviolet light, can break the molecular bonds which hold atoms in molecules. In general then, molecules are found in cool astrophysical environments. The most massive objects in our galaxy are giant clouds of molecules and dust known as giant molecular clouds. In these clouds, and smaller versions of them ...
Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) is a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust that is located about 120 parsecs (390 ly) from the center of the Milky Way.This complex is the largest molecular cloud in the vicinity of the core and one of the largest in the galaxy, spanning a region about 45 parsecs (150 ly) across. [2]
The bulk of the molecular gas is contained in a ring between 3.5 and 7.5 kiloparsecs (11,000 and 24,000 light-years) from the center of the Milky Way (the Sun is about 8.5 kiloparsecs from the center). [6] Large scale CO maps of the galaxy show that the position of this gas correlates with the spiral arms of the galaxy. [7]
The Galactic Center, as seen by one of the 2MASS infrared telescopes, is located in the bright upper left portion of the image. Marked location of the Galactic Center A starchart of the night sky towards the Galactic Center. The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy.
Assuming the mass of ordinary matter is about 1.45 × 10 53 kg as discussed above, and assuming all atoms are hydrogen atoms (which are about 74% of all atoms in the Milky Way by mass), the estimated total number of atoms in the observable universe is obtained by dividing the mass of ordinary matter by the mass of a hydrogen atom.
Within our galaxy, by mass, 99% of the ISM is gas in any form, and 1% is dust. [2] Of the gas in the ISM, by number 91% of atoms are hydrogen and 8.9% are helium, with 0.1% being atoms of elements heavier than hydrogen or helium, [3] known as "metals" in astronomical parlance. By mass this amounts to 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, and 1.5% heavier ...
The Solar System [d] is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it. [11] It formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, forming the Sun and a protoplanetary disc .
The Central Molecular Zone or CMZ is a region of the Milky Way Galaxy rich in an estimated 60 million solar masses (M ☉) of gas within a complex of giant molecular clouds. [1] It spans the centre of the Milky Way, and as such is in the Sagittarius constellation , between galactic longitude 1.7° and -0.7°, and latitudes -0.2° and +0.2°.