This high-speed star is whipping around the black hole in the middle of our galaxy
Astronomers have observed a star moving at record speeds around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This discovery provides a unique opportunity to study how gravity influences space and time near a black hole.
Why it matters
Studying the environment around black holes helps scientists understand the fundamental physics of the universe and how galaxies are formed.
In the fall of 2002, scientists calculated the mass of a truly gargantuan entity at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. It was four million times the mass of our Sun — so big it almost certainly had to be a supermassive black hole.
The object "probably looks like Interstellar ," says Stefan Gillessen , an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, referring to the 2014 sci-fi film starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. "You have this dark shadow, this silhouette, where the absolute darkness is" surrounded by a shimmering halo of light.
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