I really can't wait to see the picture of Saggitarius A* ever since I saw this amazing clip
[i.imgur.com]
Can you explain what we are seeing in that clip?
What you are seeing is a compilation of pics pointed towards the middle of our galaxy. You can track the time of each pic on the top left. What the clip shows are stars near our galaxy center which are orbiting an invisible MASSIVE object that we now know as a super massive black hole called Saggitarius A. The speed these huge stars are traveling around the center is mind boggling. For the scale on the pic, 1 light day is 1600 million miles or 260 million km.
[units.wikia.com]
There are efforts now to combine several telescopes around the world in the hopes of taking a pic (at least it's cloud disturbance) of A* in the hopes of seeing for the first time an event horizon. This would be a first and should be revealed sometime this year.
@Lukian wow that is fast!!! It would be amazing to be intelligent life that grew up on a planet orbiting that star at the end of the clip. Not all stars would be fixed points. There are probably lots of questions that their ancient culture would have asked, that our's didn't have a chance to ask until much later. Plus their myths about the sky would be fascinating!
@CraeftSmith yes I agree. A civilization near the black hole would have many stories to tell.
@LaMariposa they, meaning the rapid swirling stars or astronomers on earth?
here is reference. We should see it in 2018.
[earthsky.org]