![]() ![]() Previously, scientists observed stars orbiting some invisible, massive object at the galactic center. ![]() It has taken five years for astronomers to capture and confirm this image and discovery. The results of this groundbreaking discovery were published Thursday in a special issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. “These unprecedented observations have greatly improved our understanding of what happens at the very (center) of our galaxy, and offer new insights on how these giant black holes interact with their surroundings.” “We were stunned by how well the size of the ring agreed with predictions from Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity,” said EHT project scientist Geoffrey Bower from the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, in a statement. At this close range, the black hole accelerates matter to close to the speed of light and bends the paths of photons in the warped (space-time).” “With the (Event Horizon Telescope or EHT) image, we have zoomed in a thousand times closer than these orbits, where the gravity grows a million times stronger. “For decades, astronomers have wondered what lies at the heart of our galaxy, pulling stars into tight orbits through its immense gravity,” Michael Johnson, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, said in a statement. Astronomers said the black hole is 4 million times more massive than our sun. It’s the first direct observation confirming the presence of the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, as the beating heart of the Milky Way.īlack holes don’t emit light, but the image shows the shadow of the black hole surrounded by a bright ring, which is light bent by the gravity of the black hole. For the first time, astronomers have captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. ![]()
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