Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

At the Center of the Milky Way

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 23, 2005 is “At the Center of the Milky Way,” an image. It is credited to Credit : Rainer Schdel ( MPE ) et al. , NAOS-CONICA , ESO. The original explanation runs about 187 words.

At the Center of the Milky Way
Credit : Rainer Schdel ( MPE ) et al. , NAOS-CONICA , ESO Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“At the center of our Milky Way Galaxy lies a black hole with over 2 million times the mass of the Sun. Once a controversial claim, this astounding conclusion is now virtually inescapable and based on observations of stars orbiting very near the galactic center.”

— APOD editors, October 23, 2005

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 23, 2005
Type
Image
Credit
Credit : Rainer Schdel ( MPE ) et al. , NAOS-CONICA , ESO
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 187 words

All of October 2005 → · 2005 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The SunThe Milky WayGalaxiesBlack holes

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: October 23 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.