How active is the supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as a team of researchers conducted the most in-depth investigation into Sagittarius A* and has the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of black holes and galaxies throughout the universe.
For the study, the researchers used NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope to observe Sagittarius A* to better understand its activity. After conducting several observations between 2023 and 2024, the researchers found that Sagittarius A* exhibited near-endless flare activity, ranging from faint flashes lasting a few seconds to massive eruptions occurring every day. Since Sagittarius A* interacts with the massive disk of gas and dust that comprises our galaxy, these results could help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes throughout the universe.
“Flares are expected to happen in essentially all supermassive black holes, but our black hole is unique,” said Dr. Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, who is a professor at northwestern University and lead author of the study. “It is always bubbling with activity and never seems to reach a steady state. We observed the black hole multiple times throughout 2023 and 2024, and we noticed changes in every observation. We saw something different each time, which is really remarkable. Nothing ever stayed the same.”
Going forward, the team aspires to conduct uninterrupted observations of Sagittarius A* for up to 24 hours with the goal of obtaining even greater insights into its activity and what this could mean for supermassive black holes throughout the universe.
What new discoveries about supermassive black holes will scientists make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: arXiv, EurekAlert!
