Intergalactic Dust

<p>Most telescopes have what we call a&nbsp;<strong>B-V bandpass</strong>&nbsp;&mdash; a generic, high-energy blue and yellow light filter that gives us the star&rsquo;s colour through the differences in the apparent brightness through the two filters. To get the total reddening of a star, we just measure the mass of the star using data we have now &mdash; this gets us an accurate value for the brightness without the extinction, allowing us to correct for the extinction!</p> <h1>A Case Study &mdash; The Cygnus Rift</h1> <p>Our Milky Way is a huge galaxy. Stretching almost 200,000 light years across, this big behemoth of stars and gas has much to offer. However, if we look at the constellation of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cygnus-constellation" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Cygnus</a>&nbsp;, there&rsquo;s this big band of dust blocking our view towards its center. While this place is a prime target for infrared astronomy, pretend you haven&rsquo;t brought your thermometer with you today. Let&rsquo;s brush away the thorns of the region to unlock the secrets of its El Dorado!</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/@cheesyminecart/intergalactic-dust-173fa79fdace"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>