The most detailed observations of material orbiting near a black hole

The most detailed observations of material orbiting near a black hole https://i2.wp.com/www.eresviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Las-observaciones-más-detalladas-de-material-orbitando-cerca-de-un-agujero-negro.jpg?fit=146%2C146&ssl=1

The most detailed observations of material orbiting near a black hole





The most detailed observations of material orbiting near a black hole


The ESO GRAVITY instrument installed in the Very Large Telescope (VLT) interferometer has been used by scientists from a consortium of European institutions, including ESO, to observe flashes of infrared radiation from the accretion disk around Sagittarius A *, the object massive in the heart of the Milky Way. The observed flashes deliver the long-awaited confirmation that the object at the center of our galaxy is, as has been assumed for a long time, a supermassive black hole. The flashes originate from the material that orbits very close to the event horizon of the black hole, making these the most detailed observations that exist of material orbiting so close to a black hole.



While part of the material in the accretion disk - the gas belt that orbits Sagittarius A * at relativistic speeds - can orbit the black hole safely, anything that gets too close is bound to be drawn beyond the event horizon. The closest point to a black hole that can orbit that material without being inevitably attracted inward by the immense mass is known as the nearest stable orbit, and it is from here that the observed flashes originate.



"It's amazing to actually see material orbiting a massive black hole at 30% of the speed of light," said Oliver Pfuhl, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE). "The great sensitivity of GRAVITY has allowed us to observe the accretion processes in real time with an unprecedented level of detail."







ESO's GRAVITY instrument, which is characterized as being extremely sensitive, has added more evidence to the old assumption that a supermassive black hole hides in the center of the Milky Way. New observations show agglomerations of gas rotating at approximately 30% of the speed of light in a circular orbit just outside its event horizon. The first material was observed orbiting near the point of no return, and more detailed observations already show material orbiting very close to a black hole. This visualization uses data from simulations of gas orbital motions, rotating at approximately 30% of the speed of light in a circular orbit around the black hole. (Credit: ESO / Gravity Consortium / L. Calçada)



These measurements were only possible thanks to international collaboration and instruments equipped with the most advanced technology. The GRAVITY instrument that made this work possible combines the light of four ESO VLT telescopes to create a virtual super telescope 130 meters in diameter, and has already been used to explore the nature of Sagittarius A *.



Earlier this year, GRAVITY and SINFONI, another instrument of the VLT, allowed the same team to accurately measure the close flyby of the S2 star as it passed through the intense gravitational field near Sagittarius A *, and for the first time Once this revealed the effects predicted by Einstein's general relativity in such an extreme environment. During the near flyby of S2, a strong infrared emission was also observed.



"We monitor closely S2, and of course we always supervise Sagittarius A *," Pfuhl explained. "During our observations, we were fortunate to see three bright flashes around the black hole, which was a lucky coincidence!"



This emission, coming from highly energetic electrons very close to the black hole, was observed as three prominent bright flashes, and coincides exactly with the theoretical predictions about hot zones orbiting near a black hole with a mass of four million times that of the Sun. It is believed that the flashes originate from magnetic interactions in the very hot gas that orbits very close to Sagittarius A *.  



Reinhard Genzel, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany, who led the study, explained: "This was always one of our dream projects, but we never thought it could come true that soon." Referring to the old assumption that Sagittarius A * is a supermassive black hole, Genzel concluded that "the result is a strong confirmation of the paradigm of the massive black hole." (Source: ESO)

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