Images of gas cloud being ripped apart by the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
New observations from ESOòÀÙs Very Large Telescope show for the first time a gas cloud being ripped apart by the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. Shown here are VLT observations from 2006, 2010 and 2013, coloured blue, green and red respectively.
Due to its distance, and the fact that we see the orbit at a steep angle as the cloud falls towards the black hole, only the position, not the shape, of the cloud can be discerned in this image. The stretching of the cloud is seen in observations of its velocity, which allow astronomers to work out where on its orbit the different parts of the cloud are now located.
Credit:ESO/S. Gillessen
About the Image
Id: | eso1332a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 17 July 2013, 12:00 |
Related releases: | eso1332 |
Size: | 1028 x 1029 px |
About the Object
Name: | Milky Way, Milky Way Galactic Centre, Sgr A* |
Type: | • Milky Way : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole |
Distance: | 25000 light years |
Category: | • Quasars and Black Holes |
Wallpapers
1024x768
86.9ˆàKB
1280x1024
139.3ˆàKB
1600x1200
201.5ˆàKB
1920x1200
239.4ˆàKB
2048x1536
326.6ˆàKB
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Infrared Bracket Gamma | 2.165 μm | Very Large Telescope SINFONI |
Infrared Bracket Gamma | 2.165 μm | Very Large Telescope SINFONI |
Infrared Bracket Gamma | 2.165 μm | Very Large Telescope SINFONI |
Infrared | Very Large Telescope SINFONI |
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