Milky Way’s Black Hole Grew 75 Times Brighter for a Few Hours

Milky Way’s Black Hole Grew 75 Times Brighter for a Few Hours

Troy Oakes



This peak was over twice as bright as the previous peak flux level. These results are being reported in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in a paper titled “Unprecedented variability of Sgr A* in NIR.”


The team saw Sgr. A* flaring at 75 times normal for a 2-hour period on May 13. At first, astronomer Tuan Do thought that they were seeing a star called SO-2 rather than Sgr. A*. SO-2 is one of a group of stars called S-stars that orbits the black hole closely. Astronomers have been keeping an eye on it as it orbits the black hole, and at first, they weren’t sure if they were seeing it or Sgr. A*.

Four images from the paper. Over about a 2 hour period, Sgr A* flared to 75 times normal, and twice as bright as any other observed peak. At first, astronomers thought they were looking at the S star SO-2. (Image: Do et al; 2019.)


In an interview with ScienceAlert, Do said:


This is our best-yet image of an actual black hole. It’s the super-massive black hole at the center of galaxy M87, and it was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The black hole itself can’t actually be seen, so this image is actually of its event horizon. The EHT’s next target is Sgr. A*. (Image: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration)


It’s likely that something has disrupted Sgr. A*’s usually quiet neighborhood, and there are at least a couple of possibilities. The first is not actually a disruption, but an inaccuracy in the statistical models used to understand the black hole.

If that’s the case, then the model needs to be updated to include these variations as “normal” for Sgr. A*. The second possibility is where things get interesting — something has changed in the black hole’s neighborhood.







In the final analysis (if there ever is one in science), this flaring may just be the natural result of a variable flow of material into Sgr. A*, which is expected to be lumpy. If that’s the case, then we’re back to just updating the statistical model used to explain the black hole’s variability.

A computer-simulated image of the hydrogen gas cloud G2 encountering Sgr. A* and being stretched out. The encounter could have disrupted the usually sedate in-flow of material into the black hole and caused the variability and flaring observed in May 2019. (Image: M. Schartmann and L. Calcada / European Southern Observatory and Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik)


The only way to know is to gather more data. Not only with the Keck, while the galactic center is still visible at night, but with other telescopes. During the last few months, the galactic center has been visible, and telescopes like the Spitzer, Chandra, Swift, and ALMA have been watching. These observations across multiple wavelengths should help clarify the situation when they’re made available.

Provided by: Evan Gough, Universe Today [Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.]

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