Radio wave technique uncovers shadows of clouds and stars in
Milky Way's center The center of our Milky Way galaxy is a
wondrous place full of huge star clusters, dust clouds, magnetic
filaments and a supermassive black hole. But it can be a
confusing place, too, posing challenges to astronomers trying to
image these exotic features and learn more about where they are
located in the galaxy. Northwestern University's Farhad Zadeh
has discovered a new tool for detecting dusty clouds and stars:
simply take a picture using radio waves. He is the first to
identify what he calls radio dark clouds and stars. Stars in the
early and late phases of their evolution are shrouded by huge
dusty envelopes in the form of dust and gas outflows. "When you
see these dark stars or clouds in radio wavelength images, it
tells you something very interesting," Zadeh said. "We
immediately know there is a cold gas cloud or dusty star mixing
with a hot radiative medium and that an interaction is taking
place. Knowing details of these c