1b. Milky Way Galaxy Black Hole Circumnuclear Ring - HST

HST/NICMOS near-infrared image of the Milky Way Galaxy’s nucleus showing the same field of view with the same scale and orientation as Figure 1a. At this wavelength, opaque dust in the plane of the Milky Way hides features that are seen in the SOFIA image. In contrast, the stars in the HST image emit mostly visible and near-infrared light and so are not seen in the SOFIA mid-infrared image. Extra opacity due to especially dense concentrations of dust in the CNR produces patches of apparently lower star density in the near-infrared image. NASA/STScI