CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has revealed in unprecedented detail the swirling splendor of star-forming gases at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy.
The picture released Wednesday by the European Southern Observatory zeros in on a region of cold cosmic gases more than 650 light-years across. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).
The clouds of gas and dust surround the supermassive black hole at the galactic dead center.
It’s the largest image ever taken by the ALMA antenna network in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth.
By studying how stars are born in this so-called Central Molecular Zone, astronomers can better understand how galaxies evolved, said survey leader Steve Longmore of Liverpool John Moores University.
“It’s a place of extremes, invisible to our eyes, but now revealed in extraordinary detail,” the European Southern Observatory's Ashley Barnes, who is part of the research team, said in a statement.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This image provided by the European Southern Observatory shows the location of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), a region at the core of our galaxy rich in dense and intricate gas clouds. The inset is an ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey image where different molecules are displayed in different colours. (ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore via AP)
This image provided by the European Southern Observatory shows the complex distribution of molecular gas in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, designated in different colors: sulphur monoxide (cyan), silicon monoxide (green), isocyanic acid (red), cyanoacetylene (blue), and carbon monosulphide (magenta). The stars in the foreground of this image were observed at infrared wavelengths (Y, Z and J filters). (ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Snowplows cleared the way for ambulances and fire trucks in Rhode Island. New York City workers geared up to dump massive basins of warm water on piles of snow and ice. And in Boston, officials tried to clear sidewalks coated in packed snow that cut off access for people using wheelchairs.
The gigantic snowstorm this week across the Northeast U.S. dropped piles of powder from Maryland to Maine and left cities on Wednesday scrambling to clear towering heaps that were not showing signs of melting anytime soon.
By Tuesday evening, New York City had spread 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of salt, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and signed up at least 3,500 people as emergency shovelers. The $30-per-hour shifts involve clearing snow across public streets and bus stops.
But with another storm expected Wednesday, there was plenty more work left to do, especially for the many people with disabilities.
Jeff Peters, spokesperson for the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, described parts of the city as impassable islands.
“You’ll find a portion of a sidewalk that is clear, and then there’s maybe a 6-inch (15-cm) pathway that can only be walked with one foot in front of the other and no room for a stroller, rollator, walker or crutches,” Peters said. “Then you get to the corner and not only is it unshoveled, but you have basically a glacier at the end of it.”
Tina Guenette, who uses a motorized wheelchair, had to shovel out her yard this week after more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) fell in Harrisville, Rhode Island, a town about 17 miles (27 kilometers) northwest of Providence.
“I really have no choice if my service dog wants to go outside,” Guenette said Tuesday. Harrisville has a volunteer snow-shoveling program, but it hasn't had volunteers for the last few years, she said.
The National Weather Service warned another storm originating in the Great Lakes could push into the Northeast on Wednesday. The clipper storm brings the prospect of a combination of rain and some snow, though it’s not forecast to be nearly as severe.
NYC Emergency Management warned Wednesday morning commuters that the forecast light snow and freezing temperatures could bring slick roads and sidewalks as well as black ice.
Monday’s storm blanketed the region with snow, canceled flights, disrupted transit, downed power lines and killed at least one person. More than 3 feet (0.9 meters) fell in Rhode Island — surpassing snow totals from the historic Blizzard of 1978 that struck the Northeast, the National Weather Service said.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue, former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said if all of the snow that fell from Maryland to Maine fell just on Manhattan, the snow would tower over a mile high.
In Newport, Rhode Island, Joseph Boutros, 21, was found unconscious inside a vehicle covered in snow Monday night, the city’s police department said in a statement. The Salve Regina University student was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead due to carbon monoxide poisoning, police said.
Some large school districts moved back to in-person classes on Wednesday, including Philadelphia, which had switched to online learning during the first two days of the week.
In New York City, more than 900,000 students in the nation’s largest public school system had a regular day Tuesday. Many students and their caregivers scrambled over mountainous snow banks and dodged salt spreaders during the morning drop-off.
Power had returned for many of the hundreds of thousands who had lost electricity in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island. But about 173,000 customers in Massachusetts were still without power early Wednesday.
Thousands of flights in and out of the U.S. have been canceled in recent days. By Wednesday, the disruptions seemed to be subsiding, with only around 150 grounded, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
When Jamie Meyers' flight landed in New York from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday evening, the cabin full of relieved passengers burst into applause. The Manhattan resident was supposed to arrive home Sunday but faced a cancellation and significant delay.
The weather service referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter off the Northeast coast.” A bomb cyclone happens when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour period.
Golden reported from Seattle and Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Michael R. Sisak and Philip Marcelo in New York; Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, left, lends a hand shoveling snow from around a fire hydrant, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in South Boston. (AP Photo/Sophie Park)
A man walks his dogs on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A woman pushes a stroller through plowed snow, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A man carries his daughter over a snowbank outside a day care center in the Brooklyn borough of New York, on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Drew Callister)
Matt Bableto, left, snowblows his driveway after a winter storm dumped about three feet of snow across the region, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Cranston, R.I. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
People opt to walk in the middle of the street over snowy sidewalks after a snowstorm, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in South Boston. (AP Photo/Sophie Park)
Children stand outside the doors of Parkside Preparatory Academy a day after a snowstorm in the borough of Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Drew Callister)
A worker clears snow outside the Empire Stores building in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A man shovels snow to take out his car parked in Central Park a day after a winter storm on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Key Lim, 55, of Quincy, removes snow from a sidewalk lined with trash bags in front of the laundromat that he manages on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Sophie Park)
A woman clears snow from a walk outside a preschool, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
A woman carries a child over piles of plowed snow as she walks a girl to school, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
A man walks a boy to school, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
