The huge black hole in the center of our galaxy and the movements of the stars around it

Astronomers have made the most accurate measurements to date of star movements around the huge black hole at the center of our galaxy. New data show that 99.9% of the mass at the center of our galaxy is due to this oversized black hole known as Sagr A * and only the remaining 0.1% is due to the surrounding stars, to other smaller blacks. holes, in interstellar gases and in dust or dark matter.

The most accurate measurements ever made – with the help of the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile – by scientists led by German astronomers at the Exxon Institute , who made two related articles in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, show that Sagittarius leaves little room for anything else.

Our galactic center is about 27,000 light-years from the Sun, and its black hole is estimated to have a mass 4.3 million times that of our parent star. Despite decades of astronomical observations, it has so far proved very difficult to prove without a doubt that most of the mass of the galactic center is due to this huge black hole, which is now possible for the first time. At the same time, scientists have confirmed that the predictions of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity also apply in the case of the galactic center.

Future powerful telescopes such as the Giant Magellanic Telescope and the 30-Meter Telescope will allow astronomers to “see” even better in the center of our galaxy.

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