Produced by: Tarun Mishra
credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Astronomers using NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) have detected flares and echoes emanating from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Credit: NASA
Led by Sho Zhang, assistant professor at Michigan State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy, the team analyzed data spanning decades to uncover these cosmic phenomena.
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Nine significant X-ray flares from Sgr A* were identified in data collected by NuSTAR since July 2012, marking a breakthrough in understanding the dynamics of our galaxy's central black hole.
Sgr A* is a supermassive black hole with a mass equivalent to about 4.5 million suns, known for its low feeding activity compared to other active galactic nuclei.
Jack Uteg, another researcher from Michigan State University, utilized data spanning nearly 20 years to observe X-ray echoes from a giant molecular cloud known as "the Bridge" near Sgr A*.
These echoes are believed to result from past X-ray outbursts from Sgr A* reflecting off the molecular cloud, providing insights into the black hole's historical activity.
By analyzing the X-ray echo, Uteg reconstructed the variability of Sgr A* over the past 24 years, revealing peak luminosity levels from around 200 years ago.
The findings are crucial for understanding the mechanisms triggering X-ray flares from Sgr A*, despite its infrequent consumption of cosmic material.
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Presented at the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, the research opens avenues for further investigation into the behavior and environment of supermassive black holes in galaxies. This study underscores the importance of continuous astronomical observations in unraveling the mysteries of cosmic objects like Sgr A* at the heart of our Milky Way.