The zone of avoidance is a region of space in the Milky Way galaxy that blocks visible light. It’s made up of dust and gas clouds that cover 10–20% of the night sky. However, infrared and radio light can penetrate the region. 

Astronomers have detected an enormous extragalactic structure hidden in the zone of avoidance. They’ve also found that the Great Attractor, a mass concentration, lies within the zone. 

The zone of avoidance is a local effect of the Milky Way galaxy. It’s not as impossible to get through as previously thought. Infrared research, like the James Webb Space Telescope’s discoveries, may help scientists solve the mysteries beyond the Milky Way’s bulge.

Although the dust of the Zone of Avoidance blocks visible light from coming through it, infrared and radio light can penetrate the region. We have long used radio and infrared observations to study the center of our galaxy, such as observing the stars that orbit our supermassive black hole

The Great Attractor is a large gravitational anomaly that’s located in the zone of avoidance. The Great Attractor is about 150–250 million light-years away from the Milky Way. It’s in the direction of the constellations Triangulum Australe (The Southern Triangle). 

The Great Attractor is difficult to study because it’s blocked by the zone of avoidance. The zone of avoidance is in the general direction of the center of the galaxy. The dust and gas in this area make it hard to see very far in the visible spectrum. 

The space between galaxies is filled with a rarefied plasma called the intergalactic medium (IGM). The IGM is mostly made up of hot, ionized hydrogen. It also contains some heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, and silicon. 

The IGM regulates the birth, life, and death of galaxies. It also contains a detailed history of the universe. 

The space between galaxy clusters is called the voids. Voids are vast spaces between filaments, the largest-scale structures in the universe. Voids contain very few or no galaxies. 

The cosmic void that contains the Milky Way is called the Keenan, Barger and Cowie (KBC) void. The Boötes Void, also known as the Great Nothing, is a spherical region of space that contains very few galaxies

The Zone of Avoidance (ZoA) is a region of the universe that’s obscured by the Milky Way galaxy. The ZoA is characterized by an apparent lack of galaxies near the Milky Way’s galactic plane. The dust and stars in the plane block our view of about 20% of the night sky at visible wavelengths. 

The ZoA is a local effect of the Milky Way galaxy. American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble named it. The ZoA is also sometimes called the central region of the Milky Way. 

The ZoA impedes the retrieval of data and offers an incomplete picture of the existing galaxies. 

Best telescopes on heavy discount on Amazon