The centre of the Milky Way showing a newly discovered and rapidly moving cloud

These images taken over the last decade using the NACO instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope show the motion of a cloud of gas that is falling towards the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. This is the first time ever that the approach of such a doomed cloud to a supermassive black hole has been observed and it is expected to break up completely during 2013.

Créditos:

ESO/MPE

Sobre a imagem

Id:eso1151c
Tipo:Montagem
Data de divulgação:14 de Dezembro de 2011 às 19:00
Notícias relacionadas:eso1151
Tamanho:2507 x 948 px

Sobre o objeto

Nome:Sgr A*
Tipo:Milky Way : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Distância:25000 anos-luz
Categoria:Quasars and Black Holes

Formatos de imagens

JPEG grande
156,3 KB

Cores e filtros

BandaTelescópio
InfravermelhoVery Large Telescope
NACO