Scientists have discovered that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way buzzes with activity, shooting out a nonstop stream of flares into space.
A new study using NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a variety of light coming from the black hole Sagittarius A* — or rather its accretion disk, the ring of rapidly spinning material that surrounds it.
While some flares are reminiscent of the ephemeral flickers of a candle, lasting just seconds, others are gigantic eruptions, blasting out a half-dozen incredibly bright jets on a daily basis.
These new findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters this week, could help astrophysicists better understand black holes and how they interact with the gas and dust around them. They also may provide new insight into the evolution of the Milky Way.
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