A super-massive black hole has been discovered at the center of our galaxy. Black holes absorb everything that comes near them, even light. They are the most massive objects in the universe, and the most destructive.
Steve Connor writes in the Indpendent that black holes are the strangest things in the universe. How can there be a hole in space? It does sound impossible, but astronomers say black holes are real, despite the fact that they’ve never seen one, even with a satellite or powerful telescope. All the evidence for black holes is circumstantial. In other words, astronomers know they’re there because of the way they make other things in the solar system act.
But now they may finally be able to actually view a black hole. Using the combined power of ten radio telescopes, a group of astronomers have found a void at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It has the mass of 4 million suns, but a radius that’s smaller than the distance between the Earth and the sun. How can this be?and will it eventually suck up or galaxy?
The black hole inside our own galaxy was first discovered in February 1974 when astronomers Bruce Balick and Robert Brown noticed a powerful stream of radio waves coming from the constellation of Sagittarius. They realized these waves had to be coming from the center of our galaxy.
Astronomers still don’t know why a galaxy would form around a black hole. Perhaps they all have, in which case the Milky Way, along with all the other galaxies in the universe, will probably be eventually sucked up by them.
From light into darkness and back again?this is one of the secrets of the universe. Don’t miss William Henry’s interview with Stephen Mehler this week on Dreamland! And you won’t have to miss Whitley?s special subscriber interview with Mehler either, but only if you subscribe today. You can support this website, and all the wonderful things you get here every day, for only $11.95 for 3 months!
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