Skip to main content

Astronomers Revealed the Black Hole at the Center of Milky Way



The black hole is named Sagittarius A* (pronounced “A-star”), and the reveal of its image received an international rollout this morning in simultaneous press conferences held by the National Science Foundation (NSF) at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and the European Southern Observatory headquarters in Garching, Germany.

The image represents 3.5 million gigabytes of data taken at millimeter wavelengths by eight radio telescopes around the world. “It took several years to refine our image and confirm what we had,” said Feryal Özel, an astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, at the NSF press conference. “But we prevailed.”


The data that went into making the M87* and Sgr A* images were taken back in April 2017 during the EHT’s inaugural observing campaign. Despite its distance, M87’s central black hole appears roughly the same size on the sky as that of our own galaxy’s. Though M87* is about 2,000 times more distant, it is also about 1,500 times larger.

In fact, M87’s central black hole was actually easier to image. Part of that is because our view of it is clearer. At the Milky Way’s core, we are looking through the plane of our galaxy, with the disk’s gas in the way.

But another part of it is that because M87* is so large, its visual appearance is more stable. Because Sgr A* is smaller, the gas racing around it caused the overall ring to wobble and glimmer more quickly than M87*, which forced the team to develop new processing techniques.

It was “a bit like trying to take a clear picture of a puppy quickly chasing its tail,” said Chi-kwan Chan, an astronomer the University of Arizona in a statement.

However, in observing Sgr A*, astronomers did have one advantage. The M87* observations could not use all eight of the telescopes that were part of the EHT at the time — the galaxy’s location in the northern sky leaves it out of view of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. By contrast, the SPT could not only participate in observing Sgr A*, but could do so continuously. And its location at the end of the Earth increased the resolution of the observations significantly by widening the EHT’s baseline.

The results aren’t just a pretty picture. The extent of the black hole’s shadow — the event horizon — also provides an independent check of the mass of Sgr A*. And at 4 million solar masses, it is “perfectly aligned” with the previous measurements based on the orbital motions of stars, said Michael Johnson, an astrophysicist at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “This is an extraordinary validation of general relativity.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why the U.S. and China Are Racing to Claim the Moon Again?

The Moon is no longer just a symbol of human achievement—it’s becoming a hotspot in a new era of geopolitical power plays. The United States and China are no longer just competing on Earth; their ambitions are clashing in orbit and now on the lunar surface. This isn’t just about flags and footprints—it’s about resources, dominance, and the future of space governance. The Artemis Accords, led by the U.S. and its allies, represent an attempt to establish new rules for lunar exploration. These agreements are voluntary, but they aim to set the tone for how countries operate on the Moon—promoting peaceful collaboration, transparency, and respect for each other’s zones of activity. More than 30 nations have signed the Accords, but some key space powers, including China and Russia, have not. Instead, China is forming its own coalition with plans for the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a rival project to the U.S.-led Artemis missions. The ILRS represents a long-term Chinese vision...

Fram2 Mission Breakdown – Real or CGI?

The Fram2 mission has sparked intense debates online, with some celebrating it as a breakthrough in private spaceflight while others dismiss it as CGI trickery. Launched by SpaceX on March 31, 2025, Fram2 became the first human spaceflight to enter a polar orbit, passing over both the North and South Poles. Unlike previous missions that remained in lower latitudes, this trajectory provided a unique perspective of Earth, making the footage appear different from what most people are used to seeing. The crew consisted of private individuals, not career astronauts, including a cinematographer, a crypto entrepreneur, a robotics expert, and a polar explorer. They were not just tourists; they conducted real scientific experiments, including studying radiation exposure, atmospheric data collection, and how certain materials behave in microgravity. Despite this, conspiracy theorists quickly labeled the mission as fake, claiming the footage looked “too perfect” and accusing SpaceX of using a...

Starship’s Next Launch Could Change Space Travel Forever – Here’s What You Need to Know

 The next launch of SpaceX’s Starship is just around the corner, and it’s already generating massive buzz across the space community and tech world. Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, is designed to take humanity to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This upcoming test flight will mark another bold step in Elon Musk’s mission to make space travel not only possible but routine. As SpaceX continues to innovate at a pace unmatched by any other space agency or private company, the stakes for this launch are incredibly high. The Starship system, consisting of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage, is fully reusable and represents a fundamental shift in how we think about spaceflight logistics and economics. The launch is scheduled to take place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Engineers are finalizing preparations, including full wet dress rehearsals and static fire tests. SpaceX is waiting for the green light from the FAA, and once that happens, ...