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Radio Structure of the Galactic Centre Region

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Abstract

RADIO observations have shown that the galactic centre region consists of a number of discrete sources. The brightest of these, Sagittarius A, is believed to represent the galactic nucleus. This communication describes a new series of observations of the region, made at frequencies of 8.25 and 15.50 Gc/s with a pencil-beam antenna. The angular resolutions were respectively 4.2 and 2.2 arc min, the latter being the highest pencil-beam resolution so far applied to the galactic centre region. The observations confirm that the microwave spectrum of Sagittarius A is non-thermal1, show that the angular diameter of the source is approximately 3.5 arc min, and demonstrate that, adjacent to Sagittarius A, there is an irregular emission region, which is apparently thermal in nature. The relation between radio data concerning the galactic centre and optical information about the centres of nearby normal galaxies is also examined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Radio Astronomy Station, Fort Davis, Texas

    D. DOWNES & A. MAXWELL

  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts

    M. L. MEEKS

Authors
  1. D. DOWNES
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  2. A. MAXWELL
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  3. M. L. MEEKS
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DOWNES, D., MAXWELL, A. & MEEKS, M. Radio Structure of the Galactic Centre Region. Nature 208, 1189–1190 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2081189a0

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