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Freedom251 › Blog › Astronomy

What the New Chandra Image Shows at the Milky Way’s Galactic Centre

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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The new Chandra view focuses on Sagittarius A East, a supernova remnant near—but distinct from—the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*. Astronomers separated the remnant’s diffuse X-ray emission from other sources in the crowded galactic centre, making it possible to examine its structure and map several elements.

What does the new Chandra image show?

Released by the NASA Chandra X-ray Center on September 30, 2026, the composite shows Sagittarius A East (Sgr A East), a supernova remnant roughly 26,000 light-years from Earth. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, is nearby in the same busy field; it is not the main object featured by the image. NASA describes Sgr A* as having a mass of about 4 million Suns.

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Sgr A East is estimated to be about 10,000 years old, but NASA says its exact age remains uncertain. The displayed region spans about 7 arcminutes, corresponding to 53 light-years at the stated distance. These are figures reported with the release, not independent measurements.

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What do the image colors mean?

This is a multiwavelength composite, not a conventional-color photograph. Its colors represent different kinds of observations and energy ranges:

  • Green: lower-energy Chandra X-rays.
  • Light blue: higher-energy Chandra X-rays.
  • Red: radio data from the NSF Very Large Array.
  • Dark blue: submillimeter data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.

Where the X-ray bands overlap, the emission appears purple near the remnant’s centre. In NASA’s description, Sgr A* lies inside a bright yellow spiral structure to the right of the purple emission. The assigned colors help distinguish data layers; they do not show what these objects would look like to the human eye.

How did astronomers make the view clearer?

The galactic centre contains many sources packed into a small area. Researchers used a source-separation technique to remove contributions from other X-ray sources, so they could study the diffuse X-rays from Sgr A East more clearly. This improved view let the team make maps of iron, sulfur, argon, and calcium within the remnant.

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The analysis draws on 35 Chandra observations made between September 1999 and August 2020. NASA reports a combined observation time of 422 hours and 51 minutes—5 days, 6 hours, and 51 minutes in total. The release does not give a quantified comparison of resolution against an earlier image, so the advance is best described as cleaner separation of the remnant’s emission, not a specific numerical increase in resolution.

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What could the remnant tell scientists?

The authors’ work supports the interpretation that Sgr A East affected its surroundings over its lifetime. As quoted in NASA’s release, the authors say: “They have shown that Sgr A East has expanded into, compressed and heated the gas surrounding it, shaping its three-dimensional asymmetrical structure.” NASA also describes evidence that the remnant injected energy into nearby gas and helped keep it hot and turbulent.

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The new maps may help researchers investigate several connected questions:

  • How did winds from a nearby cluster of stars shape the remnant’s evolution?
  • Which star produced the supernova remnant?
  • Could Sgr A East have contributed to past outbursts from Sgr A*?

The possible connection to black-hole outbursts remains an open question, not proof that the remnant directly triggered them. NASA’s release identifies Mayura Balakrishnan of McGill University as lead author and the related study as Balakrishnan et al. (2026) in The Astrophysical Journal.

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What the image layers can—and cannot—show

Each layer traces a different part of the scene: Chandra’s X-ray bands reveal high-energy emission and the remnant’s mapped elements, while the radio and submillimeter layers add views at other wavelengths. Combining them helps scientists interpret Sgr A East within its crowded environment. The composite should not be read as a literal-color portrait, and the release does not establish a single cause for every feature in the remnant.

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AstronomyChandra X-ray ObservatoryMilky WayNASASagittarius A EastSagittarius A*

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