2023-06-27 17:02:02
Agencies Tuesday, June 27, 2023 08:00 PM The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A in the middle of the Milky Way, which was previously considered sleeping, has returned to life for a short time at the end of the nineteenth century, according to the results of a study published in the journal Nature. Its mass is regarding four million times greater than the sun and it is located regarding 27,000 light-years from Earth. It awoke from its long slumber regarding 200 years ago, and the celestial body spent regarding a year swallowing various cosmic bodies before returning once more to a state of dormancy, according to the researchers. “Imagine that a bear goes into hibernation following devouring everything around it,” Frederic Marin, the study’s author, told AFP. Marin added that during this phase of activity in the late 19th century, the black hole was “a million times brighter than it is today.” Observing this centuries-old activity, scientists noticed that nearby galactic molecular clouds began emitting X-ray light so dramatically that it seemed as if “a single glowworm hidden in a forest suddenly became as bright as the sun,” French researchers told CNRS. The astronomers tracked this X-ray light using NASA’s X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and found that the clues point directly to Sagittarius A* — which Marin said “emitted an echo of its past activity.” But while scientists are intrigued by the study’s findings, the reasons for the black hole’s resurgence remain a mystery. One prevailing hypothesis is that a star or cloud of gas may have drifted too close, awakening Sagittarius A* from its dormant state. The researchers hope that the study will provide important insights into what triggers black holes to emerge from periods of rest to activity. And last year, astronomers published online the first ever images of a black hole – or more specifically, the glowing ring of gas that surrounds it and confirms its existence. A black hole is a region of space-time with such strong gravity that nothing, not even light, can emerge from it. They form when the center of a very massive star collapses in on itself at the end of its life.
1687886007
#study #return #black #hole #disturb #galaxy