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The strange phenomenon began in May of this year and astronomers say they have never seen anything like it in the last quarter of a century.
A supermassive black hole, which, according to scientists, is hiding in the center of our galaxy in an object called Sagittarius A *, has recently begun to consume enormous quantities of matter, reported The Guardian, citing astronomers of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
According to the report, scientists compared more than 13,000 Sagittarius A * images taken during 133 nights by the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and by the very large telescope of the Southern European Observatory in Chile since 2003 and have discovered that the object has become an unprecedented activity in recent months. gloss.
"We have never seen anything like it for 24 years as we study the supermassive black hole," said Andrea Ghez, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA and senior author of the research. "It's usually a rather calm black hole and wimpy in a diet. We do not know what motivates this great feast. "
A black hole can not be seen because even the light can not escape its powerful gravity, but the matter surrounding the celestial object emits violent radiation when it accelerates inward. An increase in brightness indicates that extra material is being consumed by the black hole. Astronomers can not say what type of problem Sagittarius A * is experiencing from May of this year and whether the increased burn is an anomaly or permanent.
"The big question is whether the black hole is entering a new phase[ …] and the rate of gas drop in the black hole has increased for a long time, or if we just see the fireworks of a few drops of unusual gas fall, "said Mark Morris, professor of physics and physics. Astronomy at UCLA and co-lead author of the journal.
The scientists assume that the material could have come from the S0-2 star, which passed near the black hole in 2018. Scientists claim that Sagittarius A * could have removed from the star a large amount of his gas that had hit the black hole this year. Another possible source is a pair of binary stars called G2, passed next to the black hole in 2014.
Scientists note that the black hole, located 26,000 light-years from Earth, is too far away to pose a danger to our planet.
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