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MILKY WAY |
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SAGITTARIUS ARM Lying Between the Orion Arm and the galactic center is the Sagittarius Arm, one of the Milky Way’s two major spiral arms. It is a broad and sweeping arm that wraps itself around the entire Galaxy before beginning to peter out. The Sagittarius Arm is difficult to unravel from our position in the Orion Arm, because great swathes of dust block the view. Radio waves and infrared radiation can pass through the dust, but astronomers them find that object in this bust region are often obscured because they lie along the same line of sight as other, nearer objects. Nevertheless, astronomers are discovering it to be full of strange and unusual features. Structure of the Sagittarius Arm Great nebulas and dense molecular clouds dot the part of the arm
that is closest to us. The Eagle, Omega, Trifid, and Lagoon Nebulas make up one enormous
region of starbirth, with the giant Carina complex not far away. The region also has its
share of star corpses, pulsars, and black holes. Closer to the galactic center, molecular
clouds dominate the arm. |
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