Close up of the black hole of the Milky Way

If an object looks like a black hole, it acts like a black hole, it might be a black hole.

Scientists believe that a massive mass of objects lurking in the center of our galaxy is probably a giant black hole, but they still cannot prove it. New observations have yielded the clearest picture so far about the Milky Way galaxy center thus providing convincing evidence for the black hole hypothesis, hoping to soon be able to answer the question.

By connecting a worldwide radio telescope series, astronauts have created virtual telescopes. The distance of the observatory is in the range of 2,800 miles, equivalent to 4,500 kilometers. Virtual telescope has captured a close-up picture of the event horizon of the black hole in the Milky Way galaxy, which is the boundary that no object including light can escape.

Blessings and calamities

Because the supermassive black hole of the Milky Way is the black hole closest to us, it will provide a unique opportunity to study the behavior of black holes as well as its effects on galaxies.

Lead researcher Sheperd Doeleman of MIT said: 'This is an example of a black hole that we can see anywhere in the universe and is also the best opportunity to observe signs in the region. the vicinity of the black hole. One of the difficulties of observing it is to search throughout our galaxy. Fortunately, it is close, but it is also a disaster when it is covered by gas and dust. '

Above is the floral pattern of accretion disk material (orange cloud) and the flow of high-speed elements (white tornadoes) that scientists think they surround the black hole at the center of the celestial Milky Way. The nested image is a computer simulation of the swirling flow of material around the black hole, the red part has a brighter light and the blue part shows the faint light. The orange circle indicates the relative size of Sagittarius A * determined from new observations with much smaller sizes than previously obtained results. (Photo: MIT / NASA / CXC / Johns Hopkins / U. Illinois)

To be able to penetrate the dusty membrane of the Milky Way, researchers used 1.3 mm radio light that could pass through the mist better than long wavelength light. They combined observations obtained from the observatory in Haoai, Arozona and California with a technique called Ultra-Long Interference (Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)) to be able to observe the celestial center. HA with the highest resolution.

Researchers have observed a bright light source called Sagittarius A * ("A-star"), which is considered an indication that a black hole has a mass of more than 4 million solar masses. The mass is determined by observing the effects of massive objects on stars with orbits near the center of the galaxy. The team found Sagittarius A * about one-third the diameter of the Earth to the sun , or 30 million miles (50 million kilometers) . This small size indicates that the galactic center is much denser than previous calculations. This reinforces the notion that the object lurking there is a black hole due to the current hypothesis with no other explanation for the existence of super mass in narrow spaces.

Troubleshooting

Scientists have not been able to understand the process of causing radiant phenomena from Sagittarius A *, but perhaps it is a strong stream of molecules accreted by the magnetic field around the black hole or the outflow of radiation. from the disk accreting material flowing into the black hole.

They hope to fully understand the question, eventually proving that Sagittarius A * is truly a supermassive black hole with the support of observation technology in the future.

Doelman responded to SPACE.com reporter: 'We have studied the structure and equipment for more than a decade to complete the technique. The true value of technology is that we have proved its feasibility. We will get useful data within the next 3 to 5 years. Some of them will tell us whether we can find the predictable signs of black holes. '

Astronauts use a new telescope to get a more detailed, clear image than 1,000 Hubble space telescopes to determine the size of the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Milky Way. Way. (Photo: MIT / Shep Doeleman)

To improve the image quality, astronauts plan to use more telescopes around the world as well as discs in many different locations to enhance the signal. They also plan to observe shorter wavelength radio light.

Astrophysicist Avi Loeb of Harvard (not involved in the study) said: 'This pioneering study demonstrates that such observations are completely possible. It also opens a new door to understanding the spatial and temporal structure near the black hole and testing Einstein's hypothesis of gravity. '

Research on the National Science Foundation funded and implemented by the Submillimeter Telescope (Submillimeter Telescope - SMT) of the Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO) of the University of Arizona, the Integrated Network for Research Save millimeter wave (Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy - CARMA) in California, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and Submilimeter Network (SMA) in Haoai. The study was published on September 4 in Nature.