Supermassive (and super blurry), it’s the black hole at centre of our galaxy
PICTURED for the first time, this is the supermassive black hole that sits at the heart of our galaxy.
Known as Sagittarius A*, it is four million times the mass of our Sun and is about 40 million miles wide.
The black hole itself cannot be seen in the image since no light or matter can escape its powerful gravitational pull. However, its shadow is traced by a glowing, blurry ring of matter swirling around the edge.
And, despite being described as a ‘gentle giant’ which is eating very little, the bright spots surrounding the shadow may be the remains of three stars it is devouring.
But it’s not set to pose any danger to us, being 27,000 light years away.
The image was taken by the Event Hori
‘Like a humble cream doughnut’
zon Telescope (EHT), an international network of eight radio telescopes.
Professor Susan Scott, of the Australian National University, said: ‘Throughout human history, we have wondered what was at the centre of the Milky Way. Well, now we have an image of it.’
Professor Fred White, Australia’s astronomer-at-large, compared the hole to a ‘humble cream doughnut’ and said it represents an ‘extraordinary technological achievement’.
The picture comes three years after the EHT released an image of another black hole 55 million light years away – the first to ever be photographed.