[The Epoch Times, March 2, 2023](The Epoch Times reporter Linda compiles and reports) A huge and mysterious object is being slowly sucked into the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Epic astronomical wonders. Since 2002, a team of astronomers has been using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii to observe this process.
The strange object, which astronomers have dubbed “X7,” is thought to be a cloud of dust and gas about 50 times the mass of Earth. In recent observations, X7 has been greatly elongated by the Sagittarius A* black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
As published on February 21 in “The Astrophysical JournalAs detailed in a paper in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers found that X7 now extends 3,000 AU, or 3,000 times the distance between the Sun and Earth—and we still can’t be sure where it came from.
“This is a unique opportunity to observe the effects of black hole tidal forces at high resolution, giving us insight into the physics of the extreme environment at the center of our galaxy,” said Anna Chulo, a UCLA research associate and the study’s lead author. Ciurlo) in astatementsaid in.
There’s still a lot to learn about the X7’s origins. Astronomers believe it was the result of the merger of two stars, which ejected huge clouds of gas from the collision.
We know one thing for sure: Anything close to a black hole has to deal with extreme gravity.
X7 orbits the black hole of Sagittarius A* about every 170 earth years. Once it reaches the closest position to the black hole around 2036, it will immediately “wake up” and “repent”.
That said, once it gets close enough, the X7 may cease to exist as its parts are sucked into a gigantic gravitational vortex – like being washed down a sewer – but at 490 miles per second.
“It is expected that the powerful tidal forces of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way could eventually tear X7 apart before it completes its orbit,” co-author Mark Morris, a professor of astronomy at UCLA, said in a statement.
Despite bad luck, the X7 will eventually go out with a bang, but in that split second a burst of light will illuminate the black hole, giving us a glimpse of what it really is. ◇
Responsible editor: Sun Yun#