Combining wavelengths of light can reveal new details about an object
© Getty, NASA
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have discovered a new cosmic ‘exhaust vent’ funnelling hot gas away from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole that sits at the very heart of our Milky Way. The newly discovered vent is linked to a chimney-like formation orientated at a right angle in the Milky Way’s disc. The Chandra observation reveals how a ‘tunnel’ at the centre of our galaxy helps channel matter to its outer regions.
Many supermassive black holes are voracious consumers of gas, dust and even the stars around them. The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sgr A*, on the other hand, is a light eater. It consumes so little matter, in fact, that if it were a human, it would sustain itself on about one grain of rice every million years. The Chandra observations could reveal how this cosmic picky eater selects some matter to consume and rejects other material.