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Credit & Copyright: X-ray - NASA/CXC/SAO,
IR - NASA/HST/STScI;
Inset:
Radio - Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
Explanation:
There's
a black hole
at the center of the Milky Way.
Stars are observed to orbit
a very massive and
compact
object
there known as Sgr A* (say "sadge-ay-star").
But this just released radio image (inset) from planet Earth's
Event
Horizon Telescope is the
first direct evidence of the Milky Way's central black hole.
As predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity,
the four million solar mass black hole's strong gravity
is bending light and creating a shadow-like dark central region
surrounded by a bright ring-like structure.
Supporting observations made by
space-based telescopes and ground-based observatories
provide a wider view of the galactic center's dynamic environment
and an important
context for the Event Horizon Telescope's black hole image.
The main panel image
shows the X-ray data from Chandra and infrared data from Hubble.
While the main panel is about 7-light years across,
the Event Horizon Telescope inset image itself spans a mere 10
light-minutes
at the center of our galaxy,
some 27,000 light-years
away.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: black hole - Milky Way
Publications with words: black hole - Milky Way
See also:
- APOD: 2025 May 13 B Gaia Reconstructs a Top View of our Galaxy
- APOD: 2025 May 12 B Gaia Reconstructs a Side View of our Galaxy
- APOD: 2025 May 9 B IXPE Explores a Black Hole Jet
- APOD: 2025 May 6 B The Doubly Warped World of Binary Black Holes
- APOD: 2025 May 4 B Spin up of a Supermassive Black Hole
- Galaxies in Space
- APOD: 2025 February 9 B Milky Way over the Australian Pinnacles