The black hole at the centre of our own galaxy is imaged
The Event Horizon Telescope published an image of Sagittarius A* showing a ring about 51.8 microarcseconds across, from the same April 2017 campaign that produced the M87* result three years earlier. The delay was caused by the source itself: with a mass roughly fifteen hundred times smaller than M87*, its material orbits in minutes, so the structure changed during the observation and standard imaging methods smeared it. The recovered ring size matches the prediction from the mass measured by watching stars orbit - two independent methods agreeing on one object.
Observed — measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.
Subjects
- Sagittarius A* - the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way · celestial body · Galactic centre, constellation Sagittarius as seen from Earth · not located
- Event Horizon Telescope · network · Global array · not located
- The photon sphere and the shadow · concept · not located
- S2 - the star that measured the Galactic centre · celestial body · Galactic centre, constellation Sagittarius as seen from Earth · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way
Reports an image of Sagittarius A* with a ring diameter of about 51.8 microarcseconds, consistent with the mass derived from stellar orbits, and describes the variability that made the imaging difficult. V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: not consulted in session; no research tool was available. Volume and article number are from recall and must be checked.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration) · 2022-05-12 · Partly verified
Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Astrophysical Journal Letters 930, L12 (2022)
Recorded on Sagittarius A* - the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
- A star is tracked through a complete close approach to the Galactic centre
- The Event Horizon Telescope observes M87* and Sagittarius A*
- S2 passes pericentre and its light is measurably redshifted
- The first image of a black hole shadow is published
- The orbit of S2 is shown to precess as general relativity predicts
- The Nobel Prize in Physics recognises black holes twice over
- The M87* ring is imaged in polarised light
- The black hole at the centre of our own galaxy is imaged
- A second epoch shows the ring persists and the bright spot moves
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- A second epoch shows the ring persists and the bright spot moves · 2024
- The M87* ring is imaged in polarised light · 2021-03
- The Nobel Prize in Physics recognises black holes twice over · 2020-10-06
- The orbit of S2 is shown to precess as general relativity predicts · 2020
- The first image of a black hole shadow is published · 2019-04-10
- S2 passes pericentre and its light is measurably redshifted · 2018-05
- The Event Horizon Telescope observes M87* and Sagittarius A* · 2017-04
- A star is tracked through a complete close approach to the Galactic centre · 2002