Why the Milky Way’s black hole is so faint
AUG 30, 2013
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027306
Ars Technica : The black hole dubbed Sagittarius A*, which sits at the core of our Milky Way galaxy, is surprisingly quiet. Whereas most black holes are relatively bright due to their strong gravitational field and the amount of material they accumulate around them in their accretion disk, Sgr A* is much fainter. Using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, astronomers have measured the cloud of gas surrounding the black hole and have determined that Sgr A* actually consumes only a very small percentage of the gas—no more than 1%. The other 99% is being ejected back into space. The observation sheds light on the way low-luminosity black holes operate.
© 2013 American Institute of Physics
