A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery about the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). By analyzing data from the Event Horizon Telescope, scientists have found evidence that Sgr A* was born from a cataclysmic merger with another giant black hole billions of years ago. This finding helps explain why the black hole is spinning surprisingly fast and out of orientation with the rest of the galaxy.
Located at the center of our galaxy, Sgr A* is a massive tear in space-time, 4 million times the mass of our sun and 14.6 million miles wide. Its unusual spin has puzzled scientists for years. The new discovery suggests that this merger event, which likely occurred around 9 billion years ago, dramatically altered the black hole’s spin and orientation.
This finding sheds light on how supermassive black holes grow and evolve. The researchers believe that Sgr A* started out like other giant black holes, born from the collapse of a star or gas cloud. However, it grew to its massive size by consuming other supermassive black holes through mergers with entire galaxies.
The team used simulations to create a model of Sgr A*’s behavior throughout time and found that the black hole’s unusual spin was best explained by a massive merger event with another galaxy’s supermassive black hole. The discovery also provides insights into the dynamic history of our galaxy, including its mergers with other galaxies.
The researchers are now looking forward to the construction of space-based gravitational wave telescopes like NASA’s and the ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) project, which will detect the shock waves created in space-time when supermassive black holes collide.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/the-milky-way-s-supermassive-black-hole-is-spinning-incredibly-fast-and-at-the-wrong-angle-scientists-may-finally-know-why