Black holes, these mysterious and powerful objects in space, have always attracted the attention of scientists and astronomy enthusiasts. And now, thanks to new research, we can learn even more about them.
One of the most exciting discoveries of recent years is the discovery of gravitational waves, which arise when black holes merge. In 2015, scientists first discovered brief gravitational waves produced by the merger of small black holes. But now they have also been able to detect long waves – from the merger of two super large black holes, which every galaxy has.
Studies have shown that black holes tend to merge. The same fate awaits the Sagittarius A* black hole, located in the center of our Milky Way galaxy, and the black hole in the center of the Andromeda galaxy. According to astrophysics professor Joseph Simon, this event will occur in 4.5 billion years.
However, according to Professor Michael Kramer of the German Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, this discovery could change scientists’ ideas about the cosmos. Gravitational waves produced when black holes merge can distort space and time, which could answer many questions related to Einstein’s gravity, dark matter and dark energy.
The Sagittarius A* black hole is about 27,000 light years from Earth. Its diameter is about 17 times that of the Sun, and its mass is 4 million times greater. Last May, a team of astronomers and astrophysicists from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) first showed a photograph of this black hole.
The photo shows that we cannot see the black hole itself, as it is completely dark. But thanks to the luminous gas around it, we can see a characteristic feature – a dark central region surrounded by a bright ring-like structure.
