The supermassive black hole of the Milky Way seems to become more hungry and scientists are not sure why

The supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy seems to be more and more hungry and scientists are not sure why.

In a study published in Letters from the Astrophysical Journal, a team of researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) examined more than 13,000 observations of the supermassive black hole – known as Sagittarius A * – dating back to 2003.

These observations, taken from the very large telescope in Chile and the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii, revealed at least three "unprecedented" brightness spikes earlier this year in areas just outside the city. black hole event horizon – the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.

Scientists explain that the increase in brightness around the black hole is caused by radiation, which sucks an unusually high amount of gas and dust.

"We have never seen anything like this for 24 years as we study the supermassive black hole," said Andrea Ghez, co-lead author of the UCLA study, in a statement. "It's usually a rather quiet black hole and wimpy in a diet.We do not know what's driving this great treat."

While the brightness of Sagittarius A * still varies to a certain extent, the unusual observations recorded in April and May of this year were of extreme nature, especially the measurement made on May 13th.

"The first image I saw that night, the black hole was so bright that I had initially confused it with the star S0-2 because I had never seen it before. Sagittarius A * also brilliant, "wrote the main author of the study, Tuan Do, also from UCLA. said in a statement. "But it soon became clear that the source had to be the black hole, which was really exciting."

At present, it is not clear if the latest observations indicate an isolated event or the beginning of a period of increased activity for the black hole.

"The big question is whether the black hole enters a new phase – for example, if the valve has been raised and the rate of black hole gas has increased for an extended period of time – or if we are coming from see the fireworks of some unusual petrol drops, "said Mark Morris of UCLA, another prominent co-author, in a statement.

Scientists have proposed several possible explanations for increases in brightness. These include gas being sucked into the black hole by the star S0-2 or the binary star G2 as they approached Sagittarius A *. Another possibility is that large asteroids are dragged into the black hole.

The team said additional research was needed to determine exactly what was happening at Sagittarius A * – about 26,000 light-years away from Earth.

"We want to know how black holes are developing and affect the evolution of galaxies and the universe," Ghez said. "We want to know why the supermassive hole becomes brighter and how it becomes."

Sagittarius A * – which has a mass of about four million suns – is the supermassive black hole closest to Earth. It was discovered by two astronomers, Bruce Balick and Robert Brown, who published an article in 1974 describing a radio source from an area in the middle of our galaxy, according to the National Observatory of Radio Astronomy.

It is now thought that almost all large galaxies in the universe have a supermassive black hole at its center.