The Milky Way's black hole meal

The scientific community has been focusing its attention on the giant black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy for some time now. A huge cloud of gas has been detected traveling toward Sagittarius A* (the Milky Way's black hole) and is expected to approach it in early fall. The cloud, which has a mass three times that of Earth, is expected to approach the black hole in about four months and become its next… meal. However, a few weeks ago, intense activity was detected in Sagittarius A*. Scientists initially thought that the cloud might have arrived earlier than expected at the black hole and turned ground-based and space-based telescopes to the center of the Galaxy. Initially, they found that the cloud had not yet reached the "range" of Sagittarius A* and sought an answer to the mystery. They eventually discovered that Sagittarius A*, before moving on to the main meal, started with an "appetizer" and more specifically with a magnetar. A magnetar is a special type of neutron star that has a magnetic field four million times stronger than that of Earth!

The main… meal

The giant cloud approaching the Milky Way's black hole was discovered by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the EuropeanSouthern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. By analyzing new and older images of the cloud, scientists were able to calculate its path and speed, which has doubled in recent years, reaching 2,350 km per second. It is estimated that the cloud is currently about 40 billion km away from Sagittarius A*. When it finally approaches the event horizon of the supermassive black hole - the point from which nothing, not even light, can escape - the end is predetermined. It is estimated that the "meal" will last about six months. Scientists are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the cloud at the center of the Milky Way. And this is because it will offer them, for the first time, the opportunity to observe such a phenomenon "live" and from so close up, and will allow them to get to know Sagittarius A* better.

The spaghetti phenomenon

Because it does not have enough matter to acquire its own gravity, as is the case with stars, experts expect that, approaching the event horizon, the cloud will begin to elongate from the enormous attraction of the black hole, offering a picture that they have not been fortunate enough to observe until now.

"The idea of ​​an astronaut being 'pulled' like spaghetti as he approaches a black hole is familiar in science fiction," explained the study's lead author Stefan Gillessen of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany.

"But now," the astrophysicist added, "we can see something like this actually happening in the newly discovered cloud. It's not going to survive this experience."