Astronomers have detected traces of wind from the black hole at the center of the Milky Way for the first time
Astronomers have announced that they have solved one of the major mysteries surrounding the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way. For the first time, researchers have detected traces of a powerful “wind” that it generates as it devours surrounding matter.
The scientists analyzed data from five years of observations obtained using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. After processing the images, they were able to see structures that had previously been hidden by the gas and dust surrounding the black hole.
“If a black hole doesn’t exist in a perfect vacuum, it must be blowing wind in some way. This is the first time we’ve had a clear enough picture to see the wind’s trail. We looked at the data and said, ‘There it is. This is what everyone has been looking for for 50 years,’” said astrophysicist Mark Gorsky.
As a result of the study, scientists discovered a large, cone-shaped region devoid of gas near Sagittarius A*. In their opinion, such a structure could only have formed under the influence of a hot stream of matter ejected by the black hole.
The researchers note that stellar winds from surrounding stars are incapable of creating a void of this scale, which further confirms the phenomenon’s origin from a supermassive black hole.
Sagittarius A* is located at the center of the Milky Way and was discovered back in 1974. It is believed that this black hole plays a key role in the development and evolution of our galaxy.
Source: The Independent.
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