World's largest radio telescope array pierces heart of our Milky Way: 'This is just the beginning'
Space.com
by Robert Lea February 25, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world's largest radio telescope array, has revealed unprecedented details of the Milky Way's central molecular zone (CMZ). This region, located at the heart of our galaxy, is a place of extremes, characterized by dense gas and dust where stars are born in chaotic and extreme conditions. By observing the CMZ with ALMA, astronomers have uncovered intricate networks of gas flowing along filaments and collapsing into clumps capable of forming stars. The findings, part of the ACES (ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey), provide a detailed chemical composition of this molecular gas, identifying dozens of molecules ranging from complex organics like methanol to simple ones like silicon monoxide.
The CMZ is home to some of the most massive and short-lived stars in our galaxy, many ending their lives in powerful supernova explosions. By studying star formation in this region, researchers aim to better understand how galaxies evolved over time. The survey's results, published in the journal *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*, highlight the CMZ's resemblance to galaxies in the early universe, where stars formed in similarly extreme environments. This comparison offers valuable insights into the conditions that shaped our galaxy and others like it.
The scale of ALMA's observations was unprecedented, with the array capturing an area three times the size of the full moon in the night sky. The resulting image, stitched together from smaller individual observations, revealed a level of complexity and richness that even the researchers did not fully anticipate. This achievement marks a significant step forward in our understanding of the Milky Way's core and its role as a model for studying galaxy formation in the early universe. For space enthusiasts, this breakthrough underscores the importance of exploring extreme environments in our cosmic neighborhood to unravel the mysteries of galaxy evolution and starbirth processes.
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Originally published on Space.com on 2/25/2026