NASA’s Chandra Detects Record-Breaking Outburst from Milky Way’s Black Hole

NASA | JANUARY 6, 2015

Astronomers have observed the largest X-ray flare ever detected from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This event, detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, raises questions about the behavior of this giant black hole and its surrounding environment.

The largest X-ray flare was 400 times brighter than the usual X-ray output from the black hole. Credit: NASA/CXC/Northwestern Univ/D.Haggard et al.

The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, is estimated to contain about 4.5 million times the mass of our sun.

Astronomers made the unexpected discovery while using Chandra to observe how Sgr A* would react to a nearby cloud of gas known as G2.

The researchers have two main theories about what caused Sgr A* to erupt in this extreme way. The first is that an asteroid came too close to the supermassive black hole and was torn apart by gravity. The debris from such a tidal disruption became very hot and produced X-rays before disappearing forever across the black hole's point of no return, or event horizon.

A second theory is that the magnetic field lines within the gas flowing towards Sgr A* could be tightly packed and become tangled. These field lines may occasionally reconfigure themselves and produce a bright outburst of X-rays. These types of magnetic flares are seen on the sun, and the Sgr A* flares have similar patterns of intensity.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Mars spacecraft prepare for close comet flyby

NASA is taking steps to protect its Mars orbiters, while preserving opportunities to gather valuable scientific data, as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring heads toward a close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19.

Half Our Body's Atoms Could Have Come from Outside The Galaxy

New research suggests up to half the matter in the Milky Way – including the atoms that make up all of us – could have come from outside our own galaxy, much more than scientists previously thought.

Red Planet May Have Harbored Life in Past

Scientists have found traces of fatty acids - key building blocks of biological cells - in acidic streams in the UK, which they say hint that life may once have existed on Mars.

Stars Found Far from Galaxy Center

Astronomers using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, have found a cluster of stars forming at the very edge of our Milky Way galaxy.

Hubble Captures Blistering Pitch-Black Planet

Hubble Space Telescope has observed a planet outside our solar system that looks as black as fresh asphalt because it eats light rather than reflecting it back into space.

Multiple metals – and possible signs of water – found in unique exoplanet

An international team of researchers have identified ‘fingerprints’ of multiple metals in one of the least dense exoplanets ever found.