Meet Sagittarius A, the super-massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way.
Astronomers announced today that they were able to capture for the first time a clear-resolution image of the hole.
It was photographed using the "Horizon Events Telescope" (ETA).
This is actually the first black hole photographed in our galaxy, but the second image of a black hole presented to the public.
In 2019, a black hole was photographed in the M87 area - in a galaxy far from us.
The photo was shown this morning at six press conferences simultaneously around the world.
This great challenge was realized by a large team of scientists from around the world, about 3,000 people, who used eight telescopes that photographed with radio waves the gases moving around the event horizon (the point from which all matter is drawn in and you no longer see anything) of the black hole.
Our own black hole!
Astronomers have just revealed the 1st image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy using the @ ehtelescope- a planet-scale array of radio telescopes that emerged from decades of NSF support.
https://t.co/bC1PZH4yD6 #ourblackhole pic.twitter.com/pd96CH3V0m
- National Science Foundation (@NSF) May 12, 2022
This is a huge black guy located in the center of the galaxy, which is four million times more amazing than the mass of our Sun.
The picture shows a central dark area where the hole resides, surrounded by light from a hot gas accelerated by tremendous gravitational forces.
The ring is about 60 million km long. The hole is about 26,000 light-years from us, so it is in no way a danger to life on Earth.
The new image shows researchers a complex breakdown of how black holes work.
Scientists around the world are already showing enthusiasm and interest in the new discovery.
"First of all, it's in our backyard, and if you want to understand black holes and how they work, this intricate detail is amazing," Prof Weino Falca, a German-Dutch scientist who took part in the project, tells the BBC.
"If you compare the new image to the previous one, you may be wondering what's different, but there are key distinctions."
The previous image of the black hole from the M87 area,
"Because the hole in our galaxy is much smaller than the previous one, about 1,000 times - its ring structure changes 1,000 times faster over time," explains team member Dr. Ziri Younsey of the University of London. "It is very dynamic.
The hot gas in the ring moves around the black hole at a fraction of the speed of light (300,000 km / h). "The lighter areas are probably places where the material is moving towards us."
Scientists have already begun researching the new image to test the physics they currently use to describe black holes.
The findings appear to be entirely consistent with the gravitational equations set out by Albert Einstein in his own theory of relativity.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us