Scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics followed a star orbiting an "empty point" in space, and strengthened the hypothesis that at the center of our galaxy - the Milky Way galaxy - resides a massive black hole
A massive black hole is a celestial body whose mass is equal to a million to a billion stars like our sun. Such black holes are found in the cores of many galaxies, and probably also in the core of our galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy. Dr. Tal Alexander from the Weizmann Institute of Science, And a group of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, managed, for the first time, to follow the trajectory of a star orbiting an "empty point in space", which is apparently a massive black hole located at the core of our galaxy. This star passed - at a speed of 5,000 kilometers per second - at the closest point to the black hole: only 17 light hours from its "event threshold". The scientists say that if the star had come a little closer to the black hole, it would have fallen and been "sucked" into it. The findings of this research, carried out using the giant European telescope stationed in Chile, are published today in the scientific journal "Nature".
Dr. Tal Alexander says that the presence of a massive black hole relatively close to us gives scientists an opportunity to learn about phenomena and processes that take place in distant galaxies in the depths of the universe, as well as to better understand the processes involved in the formation and development of galaxies.
The scientists believe that supermassive black holes are formed when many "normal" black holes merge. A black hole is a special star, a kind of "dark sun". In fact, it is a solar remnant much larger than our sun, which exploded and "lost itself knowing" in the process of supernova. This process takes place in developed solar cells, which have exhausted all possible nuclear fusion processes, and whose core is already made of iron. At this stage, the heat of the core breaks down the iron atoms into neutrons and protons, and the star begins to rapidly shrink and collapse in on itself under the influence of its own gravity (the gravitational energy that is released, it feeds the process of disintegration of the iron atoms in the core, into protons and neutrons). The rapid contraction of the star causes it to heat up, which accelerates the nuclear fusion processes taking place in it, until the nuclear fusion explosion becomes a powerful explosion. As a result of the explosion, the sun sheds its outer layers, which contain most of the material that makes it up.
The ejected material is scattered in space in all directions, and the light of the explosion illuminates large parts of the galaxy. At the same time, the Sun's core collapses and contracts in on itself. When this process takes place in a sun whose mass is much greater than our sun's, this process ends in the creation of a black hole, i.e. a star whose gravity is so great that it does not allow even light rays to leave it. Because of this, such a star is invisible, although the effect of its gravity on its surroundings is clearly visible. Thus, for example, the orbits of stars located near the black hole are affected by the gravity of the black hole: they appear as if they are rapidly circling an "empty" point in space. A careful monitoring of such stars - as Dr. Alexander and his German colleagues did - may indicate the presence of the black hole in the place, as well as the properties of the black hole, including its exact mass.
Despite the fact that the black hole does not emit light, the material sucked into it is compressed, heated and therefore emits a lot of radiation. "This is the most efficient engine in the universe," says Dr. Alexander, "which turns mass into energy according to Einstein's famous equation of mass and energy, E=Mc2. Dr. Alexander and his colleagues from the Max Planck Institute in Germany succeeded (using systems some of which were developed by French scientists) to track a star that orbits - in the core of our galaxy - a celestial body called "Sagittarius A", which emits radiation (a phenomenon typical of a massive black hole) and whose gravity is equal About three million stars such as our sun. The fact that "Sagittarius A" emits radiation raised the hypothesis that it is a massive black hole. It is true that various scientists have put forward additional possibilities for this behavior of "Sagittarius A", but the findings of the current study by Dr. Alexander and his colleagues from the Max Planck Institute, invalidated the alternative explanations and strengthened the hypothesis that this is a massive black guy.
One response
Probably the reference was to a black hole in the bank account of the Weizmann Institute