The universe is constructed in such a way that everything in it rotates. From small asteroids, to planets, stars and galaxies. It is similar with black holes that rotate, and over 20 years of research have shown this. It turns out that this type of object from the center of the Milky Way galaxy rotates at a very high speed.
In the center of the Milky Way there is a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*, which was recently “photographed” for the first time. A team of scientists looked at radio and X-ray observations of this object. Then it was decided to estimate the spin and the results obtained are certainly at least very interesting.
Let’s start with the fact that in the general theory of relativity, spin is measured by the value a. It means that if a black hole has no spin, then a = 0. However, in the phase of maximum rotation, a = 1. Scientists’ research has shown that in the case of Sagittarius A * this value is between 0.84 and 0.96. What does this mean in practice? Nothing else than the fact that it rotates at a very high speed.
For comparison, the spin parameter of the black hole in the M87 galaxy is estimated to be between 0.89 and 0.91. I guess this name means something to you? Yes, this is a black hole that has been captured in a photo for the first time in history. A huge scientific event was announced in April 2019 and was the result of work using the Event Horizon telescope, which is not one observatory, but many located around the world.
So we already know that the Milky Way’s black hole is rotating rapidly. Sagittarius A* is the heart of our galaxy, but none of us would like to be there. It is a huge object, with a mass estimated at about 4.3 million solar masses and a radius of 0.5 light minutes. This means that it is thirteen times larger compared to the radius of a star in the solar system. There is a lot of material swirling around the black hole and being sucked inside. Whatever gets too close to the center has no chance of escaping. The first “photo” of this behemoth was also taken using the Event Horizon telescope and took place in 2022.
Biden reveals first image from James Webb Space Telescope to AFP
2023-11-05 17:11:00
#Milky #Ways #black #hole #rotates #quickly
