Discovery of a mysterious signal in the Milky Way Galaxy
Scientists in Mexico have discovered that the black hole known as Sagittarius A* is actually sending mysterious signals to other parts of the galaxy.
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The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy does not appear very active when compared to those at the centers of other galaxies. It does not swallow massive piles of material like them, nor does it launch giant plasma jets into space.
However, scientists in Mexico have discovered that this black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, is actually sending mysterious signals to other parts of the galaxy. Astrophysicists Gustavo Magallanes-Guijón and Sergio Mendoza from the National Autonomous University of Mexico examined publicly available data recorded by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope between June and December 2022.
IT CAN BE EXTREMELY CHAOTIC AND TURBULENT
The study, which has not yet undergone peer review and was published on the scientific paper archive arXiv, looked at whether periodic signal pulses were coming from the black hole.
The findings, reported by Independent Türkçe, showed that Sagittarius A* emits an interesting gamma radiation every 76.32 minutes. Moreover, this radiation was in the most energetic wavelength range of light in the universe.
On the other hand, it is actually unlikely that the black hole itself emits radiation. Indeed, these cosmic giants have never been seen to emit radiation that could be detected in this way.
It is known that nothing, including light, can escape from black holes. However, the area around them can be extremely chaotic and turbulent.
Furthermore, the periodic signals detected by the researchers usually arise as a result of events occurring in orbit.
This leads the researchers to believe that the signals in question come from an object orbiting the black hole.
Another study conducted in 2022 suggested that a strong magnetic field in this region creates a hot gas bubble that subjects particles to synchrotron acceleration and also emits radiation.
It was stated that the distance of this formation from the black hole is roughly the same as the distance between Mercury and the Sun.
Magallanes-Guijón and Mendoza also state that their new findings support this hypothesis. According to the data, the hot gas bubble in question rotates incredibly fast with an orbital period of 70 to 80 minutes. The speed of the object is estimated to reach approximately 30 percent of the speed of light.
According to the theory, as this bubble orbits, it emits energetic flares and shines more strongly in radio light as it cools. It is stated that the mysterious and energetic gamma rays detected in the new research emerged as a result of this process.
Future observations to be made at multiple wavelengths may shed more light on the dark center of our Milky Way.