                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2022 May 13

                         The Milky Way's Black Hole
   Image Credit: X-ray - NASA/CXC/SAO, IR - NASA/HST/STScI; Inset: Radio -
                    Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

   Explanation: There's a black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Stars
   are observed to orbit a very massive and compact object there known as
   Sgr A* (say "sadge-ay-star"). But this just released radio image
   (inset) from planet Earth's Event Horizon Telescope is the first direct
   evidence of the Milky Way's central black hole. As predicted by
   Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the four million solar mass
   black hole's strong gravity is bending light and creating a shadow-like
   dark central region surrounded by a bright ring-like structure.
   Supporting observations made by space-based telescopes and ground-based
   observatories provide a wider view of the galactic center's dynamic
   environment and an important context for the Event Horizon Telescope's
   black hole image. The main panel image shows the X-ray data from
   Chandra and infrared data from Hubble. While the main panel is about
   7-light years across, the Event Horizon Telescope inset image itself
   spans a mere 10 light-minutes at the center of our galaxy, some 27,000
   light-years away.

                 Tomorrow's picture: ice halos by moonlight
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

