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.

Crediti:

ESO/MPE

Riguardo l'immagine

Identificazione:eso1151c
Tipo:Collage
Data di rilascio:Mercoledì 14 Dicembre 2011 19:00
Notizie relative:eso1151
Grandezza:2507 x 948 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:Sgr A*
Tipo:Milky Way : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Distanza:25000 Anni luce
Categoria:Quasars and Black Holes

Formati delle immagini

JPEG grande
156,3 KB

Colori e filtri

BandaTelescopio
InfrarossoVery Large Telescope
NACO