Astronomy Picture of the Day · December 11, 2008

At the Center of the Milky Way

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 11, 2008 is “At the Center of the Milky Way,” an image. It is credited to Credit: ESO , Stefan Gillessen ( MPE ), F. Eisenhauer, S. Trippe, T. Alexander, R. Genzel, F. Martins, T. Ott. The original explanation runs about 182 words.

From the explanation

“At the center of our Milky Way Galaxy lies a supermassive black hole . Once a controversial claim, this conclusion is now solidly based on 16 years of observations that map the orbits of 28 stars very near the galactic center .”

— APOD editors, December 11, 2008

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: December 11, 2008
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: ESO , Stefan Gillessen ( MPE ), F. Eisenhauer, S. Trippe, T. Alexander, R. Genzel, F. Martins, T. Ott
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 182 words

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Topics in this entry

The Milky Way Galaxies Black holes

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 11 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, December 11, 2008 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2008-december-11-at-the-center-of-the-milky-way

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.