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At the heart of the Milky Way

MADISON (WISCONSIN): From the earth, the Milky Way galaxy is a band of stars that lights up the night sky. But, astronomers looking in from outside the galaxy say it is an entirely different picture.

They say a long bar of stars cuts on an angle through the centre of the galaxy that includes the sun and the earth.

The team of astronomers used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to survey more than 30 million stars in the centre of the Milky Way.

The orbiting infrared telescope allowed the astronomers to see bright stars through clouds of interstellar dust to draw a vivid portrait of the centre of the galaxy. "We're pretty certain of the extent and orientation of this bar because we got more data than anybody else that has ever brought to bear on the problem by a long shot," said Ed Churchwell, a University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor. — AP

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