The supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is breaking apart a strange dust cloud, and astronomers are watching the spectacle. The dust cloud, called X7, is about 50 in size. Soilrevolves around a supermass black hole Sagittarius A* our galaxy. For the past 20 years, astronomers have been tracking the cloud’s journey using one of the world’s most powerful telescopes, the WM Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Observations showed that the thread slowly stretches as it spins around itself. black holeand now its length is 3000 distance from Sun to Earth. The observing campaign, which began in 2002, provides new insights into the processes driven by the strong gravitational forces that Sagittarius A* exerts on its surroundings.

“This is a unique chance to observe the tidal effects of a black hole in high resolution and gives us insight into the physics of the extreme environment of the galactic centre,” said UCLA assistant researcher Anna Churlo. associated with it in the message lead author of the study (opens in a new tab).

The astronomers observed X7 using the NIRC2 instrument on Keck, which shows the universe in thermal near-infrared light, the same wavelength it specializes in. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Thanks to the ability of infrared light to penetrate dust, astronomers were able to observe the motion of the filament in great detail. They found that it currently takes about 170 years for the filament to revolve around the center of the galaxy, and they predicted that in 2036 the filament will be at its closest approach to the black hole. Soon, the cloud will completely dissipate.