Astronomers capture the black hole that lies at the centre of Milky Way Galaxy
New Delhi: Astronomers captured the super massive black hole or SMBH that lay at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy for the first time. The first direct observation confirmed the presence of the black hole called Sagittarius A in the heart of the Milky Way galaxy.
Though black holes don’t emit light of their own, the images showcase the shadow of the supermassive hole surrounded by a bright ring. The ring is actually light that is bent due to gravity of the black hole.
The black hole is 4 million times more massive than the sun and falls into the supermassive category.
Black hole is divided into Stellar, Intermediate, Supermassive, and Miniature, of which intermediate and miniature black holes are only hypothesis. Stars often lose mass and tend to inflate before forming white dwarfs on reaching the end of their lives.
A supermassive black hole usually has masses equivalent to billions of suns but the Sagittarius A is comparatively smaller hole. According to Scientists, it is impossible to determine the exact mass of the Sagittarius A.
Although humans fail to see black holes even through telescopes, they can observe the effects of a black hole on light rays. When stars are sucked into the hole, they accelerate and heat up emitting X-rays that are detected by X-ray enabled space telescopes.
(Avya Mathur)
