Astronomers using Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s AKARI Space Observatory have captured a stunning image of the central regions of the Cygnus constellation.
AKARI view of the central regions of Cygnus. Image credit: JAXA.
AKARI, formerly known as ASTRO-F, was launched in February 2006. It’s the second space mission for infrared astronomy from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, and was realized with ESA participation.
AKARI’s main objective was to perform an all-sky survey with better sensitivity, spatial resolution and wider wavelength coverage than the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS).
Although having been launched more than 30 years ago, the IRAS all-sky maps are still a standard resource for modern astronomers. Now, AKARI’s maps improve on IRAS by a factor of four or five.
To achieve the sensitivity needed to make its maps, AKARI’s detector had to be cooled to minus 271 degrees Celsius.
Because the spacecraft could only carry 170 liters of coolant, this meant it had a limited lifetime. During its ‘cold’ lifetime of 550 days it conducted the all-sky survey, observing more than 99 percent of the entire sky, with 1 to 1.5 arcminute resolution, in four wavelengths: 65, 90, 140 and 160 micrometers.
Infrared images from AKARI reveal the detailed distribution of the interstellar medium, highlighting areas where bright, new stars are about to emerge in the Milky Way.
Far-infrared light is the key wavelength range for investigating stars and planet formation. When the interstellar medium gathers together under the attraction of its own gravity, it forms a giant molecular cloud. These can be hundreds of light-years across. Denser parts, just a few tenths of a light-year across, are known as molecular cloud cores. These are where stars and planets form.
AKARI images, such as this one, are the only images in which astronomers can closely examine the entire giant molecular cloud with the resolution of a molecular cloud core.
