Right now, at the center of our galaxy, a supermassive black hole is stretching an unusual object and will soon tear it apart.
For 20 years, scientists have been observing a large-scale cosmic event that takes place in the center of the Milky Way. A large mysterious object is slowly attracting a huge black hole Sagittarius A *. A team of astronomers have been watching the event since 2002 with the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, but new data indicate that the object will soon disappear into the depths of a black hole as a result of a collision with it, writes Futurism.
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As you know, black holes have incredibly powerful gravity, which means they can attract the surrounding matter, that is, gas and dust, as well as entire stars. For 20 years now, scientists have been watching a mysterious gas cloud, called X7, approach the black hole at the center of our galaxy. It is believed that its mass exceeds the mass of the Earth by 50 times.
For 20 years now, scientists have been watching a mysterious gas cloud, called X7, approach the black hole at the center of our galaxy. It is believed that its mass exceeds the mass of the Earth by 50 times.
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Photo: Twitter
New observations by scientists from the University of California at Los Angeles, USA, show that this object has stretched under the influence of the black hole’s gravity for trillions of kilometers. According to scientists, its length is now 3 thousand astronomical units, that is, it is 3000 times greater than the distance from our planet to the Sun. Astronomers have come to the conclusion that soon this mysterious cloud will be torn apart and completely absorbed by a black hole. Most likely this will happen in 2036, but so far the gas cloud is moving towards the black hole at a speed of about 800 km / s.
A series of images show how X7 gradually stretches between 2002 and 2021 as it approaches the black hole at the center of our galaxy.
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Photo: Twitter
According to scientists, it is very difficult to observe the center of our galaxy, especially to observe objects such as X7. This is due to the fact that the center of the Milky Way is filled with a large number of stars, as well as gas and dust, which interfere with the view, as well as the ability to see the movement of objects such as X7. Nevertheless, the capabilities of the Keck Observatory made it possible to make such detailed observations. And most importantly, astronomers were able to see changes in the shape and size of the gas cloud, which is approaching the black hole.
But most importantly, scientists still do not know exactly where this gas cloud came from, which the black hole Sagittarius A * wants to “dine” with. Astronomers speculate that the X7 object may have separated from a larger gaseous structure and was captured by the black hole’s gravity during its journey through space. Another suggestion is that this gas cloud appeared as a result of the release into space of matter that was left after the collision of two stars.
Scientists have created an animation that shows how X7 is torn apart and then collapses as it approaches a supermassive black hole
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According to Mark Morris of the University of California at Los Angeles, when a gas cloud gets very close to a black hole, it will break up into separate fragments. After that, part of the matter will be immediately absorbed by the black hole, and part will circle around it. This substance will reach such high temperatures that Sagittarius A* will release a lot of radiation and as a result the black hole will be seen especially clearly. But this moment will come only after about 13 years.
Astronomers will continue their observations of the X7 movement towards the supermassive black hole all this time.
Focus has already written about the recent discovery of a huge space monster that existed at an early stage in the life of the universe. Scientists do not yet know how a black hole with a mass a billion times that of the Sun could have formed a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
As for unusual objects in space, Focus has already written about the recent discovery of an exoplanet, which caused a real surprise for astronomers. The fact is that this planet appeared where it not only could not form.
