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A newly discovered star takes just four years to orbit the black hole at the center of our galaxy, according to a new study. There is a dense cluster of stars near the black hole at the center of our galaxy. This cluster, called the S cluster, is home to more than a hundred stars that vary in brightness and mass. They move particularly quickly from the stars.
“One prominent member, S2, acts like a large person sitting in front of you in the cinema: it blocks your view of what is important,” said Dr Florian Peissker, lead author of the new study.
“The view to the center of our galaxy is therefore often obscured by S2. In short moments, however, we can observe the surroundings of the central black hole.`
Using ever-improving analytical methods, along with observations spanning nearly twenty years, scientists have now identified without doubt a star that will fly past the central supermassive black hole in just four years. A total of five telescopes observed the star, with four of these five being combined into one large telescope, which allows for even more precise and detailed observations.
“To have a star in a stable orbit so close and fast to a supermassive black hole was completely unexpected and represents the limit of what can be observed with traditional telescopes,” Peissker said.
In addition, the discovery sheds new light on the origin and evolution of the orbits of fast-moving stars at the heart of the Milky Way.
“The short-period compact orbit of S4716 is quite mysterious,” said Michael Zajacek, an astrophysicist from Masaryk University in Brno who participated in the study.
“Stars cannot form as easily near a black hole. “S4716 must have moved inward, for example by approaching other stars and objects in the S cluster, causing its orbit to shrink significantly,” he added.
