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Milky Way Black Hole's 'Gentle Breeze' Finally Detected
5 Jun
Summary
- Astronomers detected wind from Milky Way's central black hole after five decades.
- The wind from Sagittarius A* is a gentle breeze, not a powerful hurricane.
- Data from ALMA and Chandra observatories revealed a carved-out cavity near the black hole.
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of wind blowing from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's core. This discovery resolves a mystery that has puzzled scientists for five decades. Observations from the ALMA telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory revealed a large, cone-shaped cavity filled with hot gas next to Sagittarius A*.
Researchers concluded that this cavity was shaped by a wind from the black hole, which pushed away or heated up surrounding cold gas. While supermassive black holes in other galaxies are known for powerful winds and jets, the wind from Sagittarius A* is described as a gentle breeze. This is because the black hole is currently in a relatively quiet phase, possessing about 4 million times the mass of our sun.
The discovered wind is not intense enough to significantly alter the galactic center. Scientists differentiate between winds, which expand outwards, and jets, which are narrow. The cavity, originating near Sagittarius A*, could extend up to 6.5 light-years. While it ejects more gas than it consumes, its current state is calm, unlike the more violent phenomena observed in distant galaxies.
