The center of the Milky Way, some 27,000 light-years away, is one of the best natural laboratories physicists have. A few dozen stars swarm the galaxy's central black hole on tight orbits, and because gravity there is far stronger than anywhere else we can watch closely, those stars behave in ways Isaac Newton never anticipated.
Until now, the star doing most of that work was S2, a bright star on a 16-year orbit. Astronomers have followed S2 since 1992, through more than two full laps, and that tracking revealed two hallmark predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity: light from the star losing energy as it climbs out of the black hole's gravity well, and the slow rotation of its elliptical orbit, known as Schwarzschild precession.
Measurements of black holes' rotations also matter beyond black hole physics. One leading alternative to general relativity "postulates the existence of a fundamental fifth force that arises, for example, from unifying gravity and quantum physics," Mang said.
A record-breaking orbit
That is where S301 comes in. In images captured by the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, the astronomers "discovered a new, very faint star in the Galactic Center that is orbiting the central massive black hole Sgr A* so closely that its orbit is sensitive to the spin of the black hole," Mang said.
VLT images of the S301 star orbiting Sagittarius A* (Image credit: ESO/GRAVITY collaboration)The orbit is extreme by every measure. S301 takes 8.7 years to orbit the black hole, beating the previous record holder — a star on a 12-year orbit — and S301's path is stretched into a needle-thin ellipse. At its closest approach, it passes within about 12 astronomical units from the black hole — 12 times the distance between Earth and the sun — and around 10 times closer than S2 ever gets.
The tight orbit is already showing relativity at work. "We found that the orbit of S301 succumbs to strong general relativistic effects, as the so-called Schwarzschild precession — the turning of the orbital ellipse within its own plane — is very apparent," Mang said. The ellipse swings around by about 2 degrees every lap. "Within the next ten years," he added, "a measurement of the spin of Sgr A* with S301 is within reach."
The hard part, and what comes next
Related stories
James Webb telescope just spotted the oldest, closest pair of black holes in the early universeJames Webb Space Telescope reveals thick cosmic dust of Sagittarius B2, the most enormous star-forming cloud in the Milky Way — Space photo of the weekStrange 'echo' from the Milky Way's central black hole reveals it briefly awoke 200 years ago
Now, they plan to fill in that gap. "We will keep following S301 closely along its orbit," Mang said, both with GRAVITY and an upcoming instrument that measures how light from the star shifts toward the red or blue end of the spectrum as it moves away from or closer to Earth.
See how much you know about black holes with our black hole quiz!
Hence then, the article about astronomers spot the closest fastest star ever seen orbiting our galaxy s monster black hole was published today ( ) and is available on Live Science ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Astronomers spot the closest, fastest star ever seen orbiting our galaxy's monster black hole )
Also on site :
- This ‘Whimsical’ 100% Cotton Throw Blanket With Cottagecore Charm Is Giving Major Anthropologie Vibes for Under $20
- Rosen Law Firm Encourages Suja Life, Inc. Investors to Inquire About Securities Class Action Investigation - SUJA
- The IRS is scrutinizing how UnitedHealth moved money through foreign subsidiaries—and whether it underpaid taxes