The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way galaxy; it is a supermassive black hole of 4.100 million solar masses, which powers the compact radio source Sagittarius A*. It is 26,670 ly away from Earth in the direction of the constellations Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, and Scorpius where the Milky Way appears brightest.
There are around 10 million stars within one parsec of the Galactic Center, dominated by red giants, with a significant population of massive supergiants and Wolf-Rayet stars from star formation in the region around 1 million years ago. You can see a similar number of stars in the frame of this photo.
This photograph was taken using an one-of-a-kind observational setup consisting of two identical telescopes optimized for astrophotography. This kind of configuration allows for covering large portions of the night sky in a short time - the entire photographic material was collected over the course of a single night.
Exposure of such a large picture was done piece by piece, with an shutter time of 4 minutes for each pane. The end result is a mosaic of 110 panes (55 per telescope) in a total resolution of nearly 2.5 gigapixels.
This makes it one of the largest photographs of the cosmos ever taken from the surface of our planet, with an unparalleled detail and abundance of deep sky objects included on a single image.
This picture was created on a desert farm in Namibia, many miles from the nearest settlement, in an area completely free of artificial light pollution.

With a passion for astronomy and over a decade of experience in astrophotography, Bartosz has won numerous prestigious awards, including Astrobin's Image of the Day and NASA's APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day).
As an organizer of astrophotographic expeditions, Bartosz ventures to the darkest corners of the globe. His photographic expertise spans a diverse range, from deep sky images and extreme lunar close-ups to breathtaking astroscapes that showcase the splendor of outer space in a wide field. In his day-to-day work, Bartosz specializes in image processing and 3D graphics.
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Meet Jesion
Hey there, space enthusiasts! I’m Adam Jesionkiewicz, the founder of Astrography. A few years ago, I decided to step off the corporate ladder and follow my lifelong dream—immersing myself in the breathtaking beauty of the cosmos. Astrography isn't just a business; it's a sanctuary for anyone captivated by the stars, planets, and galaxies far, far away.