In the center of most spiral galaxies are giant clusters of stars – bulge. The milky Way galaxy that includes our Solar system, the Central bulge composed of more than a quarter of a billion stars.
About it became known according to results of large-scale studies involving teams of astronomers of the Observatory of Gray Tolo in Chile. Using four-meter telescope, equipped with a camera DECam, the scientists were able to obtain unique sizes of the starry sky or, more accurately – scaled color composite image 50 000 x 25 000 pixels. Observations were made in several ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum – ultraviolet, optical and infrared.
The Central part of the milky Way galaxy
The resulting array of information gave the opportunity to scientists to conduct chemical analysis of 70 000 stars Central bulge of the milky Way, the results of which revealed that age they are about “peers” and have similar chemical composition.
One of the leaders of the Christian Johnson says that since all spiral galaxies similar to the milky Way, the formation processes of bulges in them, most likely, proceeded on a similar scenario.
Source — National Science Foundation NOIRLab
