SAO Project 33 Information
Project #33. Unveiling the Galactic Centre
A whirling cauldron of activity obscured to the eye. What exactly is going on behind this shroud at the centre of our galaxy? Stars, gas, black hole ... it's all happening there! To achieve high marks for this project you should detail how our picture of the Galactic centre has evolved with the onset of advance in modern technology. Describe the observational evidence for a supermassive black hole at the heart of our Galaxy; how might future work allow us to finally, unambiguously, constrain the exact distance to the Galactic Centre?Below I list some web sites and reference books to get you started. The books are not to be regarded as "must buy". They are not required reading for each project, because there is no required reading! I list well known books that I hope can be found in libraries.
I am happy to comment on a summary of what you intend to do (in fact please send me a summary as soon as possible so I know you are on track).
Caution! The Internet
Internet search engines are listed below the Projects. A word of warning/caution to users of Internet/Web resources. Just because information is on a Web page, doesn't mean that it is correct. After a while you will be able to identify the more reputable sites (eg. most .edu, .ac sites). Check the credentials of the author of the site. Has the web site been updated lately? Does it agree with other (non-Internet) information?The truth is out there, but so is a lot of rubbish!
Galactic Center Research at MPE
Book: The Center of the Galaxy Proceedings of the 136th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, held in Los Angeles, USA, July 25-29, 1988, edited by Mark Morris (a bit old; conference proceedings; possibly hard to locate)
Book: The Guide to the Galaxy, by Nigel Henbest, Heather Cooper, Paperback, January 1994 Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Astronomy Resources
Resource Lists * Astronomical Resources on the World Wide Web: A Guide to Surfing
Internet Search Engines
Google * HotBot * MetaCrawler
General References
CNN Space * Astronomy * Sky and Telescope * Scientific American * Mercury * New Scientist * New Scientist Astronomy Links
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Last updated: 1-Apr.-2003