... Astronomers know of some of the bizarre objects that exist there, like vast cosmic dust clouds , bright star clusters , swirling rings of gas , and even a supermassive black hole . Much of the Galactic Center is shielded from our view in visible light by the intervening dust and gas, but it can be explored using other forms of electromagnetic radiation . ... The galactic plane runs along the middle of this image while the galactic center itself is the bright spot at picture center. ...