This is the first image of the black hole in the Milky Way, our own galaxy. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) projectThe first image of Sagittarius A*, the gargantuan black hole spinning away at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way was released on Thursday by scientists collaborating on the massive Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project.
Located roughly 27,000 light-years from Earth, Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, is thought to be roughly 4 million times the mass of our Sun.
Everything in our 13.6 billion-year-old galaxy orbits Sagittarius A*, including our solar system.
Scientists have inferred its existence at the center of our galaxy for decades based on how objects move around the black hole. But this is the first time we have a direct image of its shadow, even more proof of life of the nexus of our cosmic neighborhood.
Although we cannot see the black hole itself, because it is completely dark, glowing gas around it reveals a telltale signature: a dark central region (called a “shadow”) surrounded by a bright ring-like structure.
Scientists have released the eerie, Hans Zimmer-like audio captured from a black hole at the centre of the Perseus galaxy cluster 🔭🌌
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