Different molecules in the centre of the Milky Way observed with ALMA
eso_eso2603b February 25th, 2026
Credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al.
This montage shows the distribution of different molecules in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way. The observations were made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), as part of the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey or ACES. ACES has mapped the distribution of several dozen molecules at the centre of our galaxy. Here we show five of them, from top to bottom: carbon monosulphide, isocyanic acid, silicon monoxide, sulphur monoxide, and cyanoacetylene.
Provider: European Southern Observatory
Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2603b/
Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, None, Germany
Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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Image Details
Color Mapping
- ID
- eso2603b
- Subject Category
- B.5.4.9
- Subject Name
- Central Molecular Zone
- Credits
- ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al.
- Release Date
- 2026-02-25T14:00:00
- Lightyears
- Redshift
- Reference Url
- https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2603b/
- Type
- Observation
- Image Quality
- Distance Notes
- Facility
- Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
- Instrument
- Band 3, Band 3, Band 3, Band 3, Band 3
- Color Assignment
- Magenta, Red, Green, Cyan, Blue
- Band
- Millimeter, Millimeter, Millimeter, Millimeter, Millimeter
- Bandpass
- CS, HNCO, SiO, SO, HC3N
- Central Wavelength
- 3060000, 3410000, 3452000, 3019000, 2996000
- Start Time
- Integration Time
- Dataset ID
- None, None, None, None, None
- Notes
- Coordinate Frame
- Equinox
- Reference Value
- Reference Dimension
- 8300.0, 14928.0
- Reference Pixel
- Scale
- Rotation
- Coordinate System Projection:
- Quality
- FITS Header
- Notes
- Creator (Curator)
- European Southern Observatory
- URL
- https://www.eso.org
- Name
- Telephone
- Address
- Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
- City
- Garching bei München
- State/Province
- None
- Postal Code
- D-85748
- Country
- Germany
- Rights
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
- Publisher
- European Southern Observatory
- Publisher ID
- eso
- Resource ID
- eso2603b
- Resource URL
- https://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso2603b.tif
- Related Resources
- Metadata Date
- 2025-09-12T11:54:55+02:00
- Metadata Version
- 1.1
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
