Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This video zooms into the complex molecular gas in the centre of the Milky Way – a chaotic and extreme environment where stars don’t necessarily form in the same way as they do in the outskirts of our galaxy.
The video combines images taken with different telescopes at different times and various wavelengths. The clip begins with a wide view of the night sky in visible light, and ends with an image taken at millimetre wavelengths with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Different molecules are shown with different colours.
Credit:
ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al. Music: Azul Cobalto.
This video zooms into the complex molecular gas in the centre of the Milky Way – a chaotic and extreme environment where stars don’t necessarily form in the same way as they do in the outskirts of our galaxy.
The video combines images taken with different telescopes at different times and various wavelengths. The clip begins with a wide view of the night sky in visible light, and ends with an image taken at millimetre wavelengths with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Different molecules are shown with different colours.
Credit:
ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al. Music: Azul Cobalto.
