The Milky Way’s central region observed with VISTA and HAWK

This image compares a view of the Galactic centre captured with the VISTA infrared survey telescope, as part of the Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO public survey (left), and a new, sharper view of the same region obtained with the HAWK-I instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (right). The rings seen in the higher-resolution HAWK-I view are not a real feature but rather an optical artifact.

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ESO/VVV Survey/D. Minniti and ESO/Nogueras-Lara et al.