Sagittarius A* (or Sgr A*) is the name of a supermassive black hole in the heart of the Milky Way galaxy that has started to “feast” on surrounding materials according to astronomers, “NewNine Live” reported recently.
A black hole gets brighter the more active it is. Unlike other supermassive black holes, Sgr A* typically does not consume a lot of matter and has not exhibited high activity. Every time it “eats,” the surrounding material ignites. With changes happening in the brightness of its molecular cloud, Sgr A* has begun to flare up.
Nine previously unnoticed outbursts from Sgr A* have recently been discovered by astronomers. NASA’s NuSTAR X-ray telescope, also known as the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, recorded these eruptions in historical data.
These intense flashes of high-energy light were unnoticed before. The harsh environment around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way and its properties are now better understood by scientists thanks to each of the recently found occurrences.
“The Bridge” is a massive molecular gas cloud located near Sgr A*. The cloud is producing zero X-ray light. But photons that are coming out of the Bridge have been detected by astronomers; they have probably delayed X-ray reflections from previous outbursts from Sgr A*.
Scientists have calculated that about 200 million years ago, Sgr A* would have been five times brighter than it is now, indicating that it was actively consuming its surroundings.
“This is the first time that we have constructed a 24-year-long variability for a molecular cloud surrounding this supermassive black hole that has reached its peak X-ray luminosity,” researcher Shuo Zhang said. “It enables us to determine Sgr A*’s historical activities from around 200 years ago.”
The MSU research team will continue to work on this “astroarchaeology game” to solve further puzzles about the Milky Way center.