CosmoView Episode 36: Precise Insights into the Supermassive Black Hole in the Milky Way’s Heart

Astronomers have made the most precise measurements yet of the motions of stars around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. These results, obtained with the help of the Gemini North telescope, show that 99.9% of the mass contained at the very center of the galaxy is due to the black hole, and only 0.1% could include stars, smaller black holes, interstellar dust and gas, or dark matter.

Credit:

Images and Videos: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/(Spaceengine)/ J.Pollard/ESO/GRAVITY collaboration/L. Calçada

Acknowledgment: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Music: Stellardrone - In Time

 

About the Video

Id:noirlab2130a
Release date:Dec. 14, 2021, 8 a.m.
Related releases:noirlab2130
Duration:01 m 16 s
Frame rate:29.97

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