Bibcode
DOI
Calbet, X.; Mahoney, T.; Hammersley, P. L.; Garzon, F.; Lopez-Corredoira, M.
Bibliographical reference
Astrophysical Journal Letters v.457, p.L27
Advertised on:
1
1996
Citations
22
Refereed citations
17
Description
Comparing the different wavelengths of the DIRBE integrated surface
brightness maps at positive and negative Galactic longitudes on the
plane near the Galactic center, it is shown that there exists a thick
dust lane (between 1.0 and 2.6 mag of absorption in K) at negative
longitudes (as compared to positive ones), which follows the "standard"
interstellar extinction law. A likely explanation for this effect is the
existence of a thick dust lane preceding the bar. This will have to be
confirmed by future infrared surveys, such as DENIS or 2MASS, that will
cover negative Galactic longitudes, where a heavy extinction dust lane
about 2 deg wide, close to the Galactic plane, should be seen.