Scientists Unveils the First Radio Map of Milky Way in Color and Incredible Details
Credit: Gleam-X Team/ICRAR/Curtin
Astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have released the largest color radio image of the Milky Way at low frequencies. The image covers the galaxy’s southern hemisphere and shows it in various shades of radio waves, opening new avenues for studying stellar life from its infancy to its demise.
The encoding of radio wavelengths in optical colors is not done for the sake of image aesthetics. This format allows scientists to easily focus on the most interesting phenomena occurring in our galaxy. The lower the wavelength, the warmer and brighter the radio frequencies transmitted in the image. Mid-range frequencies are shown in green, and high frequencies in blue with a transition to violet.
The optical signal obviously limits observation. The radio range provides a more complete picture of processes in the galaxy, revealing the locations of charged particles, dust, magnetic fields, star-forming regions, echoes from supernova explosions, and signals from dying stars. The data presented in the composite image was collected by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in Australia. The object consists of 4,096 antennas. The survey included observations from 2013–2015 (GLEAM, Galactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA) as well as observations from 2018 after the antenna array was upgraded (GLEAM-eXtended or GLEAM-X survey).
Only the SKA-Low telescope, currently under construction in the same desert, will surpass this image in sensitivity and resolution. Launch is planned for the next decade.
“No low-frequency radio image of the entire Southern Galactic Plane has ever been published before, making this a major milestone in astronomy,” says Hurley-Walker.
