There is a giant black hole peeking out from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. And for the first time, astronomers have obtained photographic visual evidence of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy!
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Black holes are objects in the universe whose gravity is very strong. So strong, even light can not escape from the black hole. Therefore, this object does not emit light. The yellow-orange-reddish color in the photo is the glow of gas surrounding the black hole, which is right in the center of the ring. Credit: EHT Collaboration
” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file= “https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1″ alt=”Black holes are objects in the universe whose gravity is very high. strong. So strong, even light can not escape from the black hole. Therefore, this object does not emit light. The yellow-orange-reddish color in the photo is the glow of gas surrounding the black hole which is right in the center of the ring. Credit: EHT Collaboration” class=”wp-image-34811″ width=”1000″ height=”1000″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05 /SgrA.jpeg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w, https http://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg?resize=80%2C80&ssl=1 80w, https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/ wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg ?resize=50%2C50&ssl=1 50w, https://i0.wp.com/langitselatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SgrA.jpeg?resize=870%2C870&ssl=1 870w” sizes=” (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px” data-recalc-dims=”1″/>
This photo of the Sagittarius A* or Sgr A* black hole was taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration. This collaboration involves astronomers from various countries as well as telescopes located in several countries.
The observations made by a team of astronomers in collaboration with EHT are not just one telescope. They combined radio telescopes located in various countries into a giant telescope the size of Earth to observe distant black holes. The telescopes used are in France, Spain, Greenland, Chile, the United States (Arizona and Hawai’i), Mexico, and the South Pole.
In 2019, the EHT collaboration team published their first photo. Pictured is the black hole M87* in the Messier galaxy M87, 53 million light-years away. Its mass is also very large, namely 6.5 billion solar masses.
This year, the EHT collaboration team published their latest photo. This time the photo comes from the Milky Way galaxy, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
Sagittarius A*. That’s the nickname for the extraordinarily massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This black hole is four million times more massive than the Sun. However, its size and mass is still a thousand times smaller than the black hole M87*. From a distance, Sgr A8 is much closer at just 27,000 light years. however, their smaller size and mass make these black holes more difficult to photograph.
Because this black hole also rotates very quickly, the photo taken is also constantly changing as it is taken. Because of this, astronomers use supercomputers to combine and analyze data.
The result is a photo of the Sagittarius A* supermassive black hole.
The resulting photos not only mark the advancement of technology but also the renewal of understanding about behavior gravity in extreme environments such as black holes. What is certain is that our understanding of the universe is also getting updated.
Cool facts
It is not easy to produce a photo of this black hole. There are 300 researchers from 80 institutions who worked for 5 years to produce this photo. A very massive effort!
Source: This article is a republished version of Space Scoop Universe Awareness Indonesian edition. Indonesian edition of Space Scoop translated by heaven.
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