Stellar Orbits Around Milky Way's Central Black Hole (1995 - 2195)

This demo shows the observed and predicted orbits of thirteen stars that were used by astronomers at the Keck/UCLA Galactic Center Group to predict the position of a huge black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This data was provided by Andrea Ghez and Jessica Lu. The animation spans 200 years between 1995 and 2195.

credit: UCLA/Keck Galactic Center Group

source: http://astro.uchicago.edu/cosmus/proj...

• Category

  Science & Technology

[mobius1234]

i like theb iddle one, repeated whip

[djxatlanta]

- It is moving unbelievably fast as it rounds the black hole at that point in its orbit. And I wouldn't doubt that the star itself is stretched by the black hole's gravity into an ellipsoid shape. This is one of the most remarkable places in the galaxy, and once the European Extremely Large Telescope goes online in 2018, we will have an unprecedented detailed view of this region.

[djxatlanta]

- oh, and on a recent TV documentary on the Milky Way, one of the astronomers studying the central black hole region (actually called Sagittarius A*) said that's her favorite star, too. =)

[Dirt Swagson]

what a great video!

[ty dud]

Astronomy is the best subject ever. Black holes are my favorite thing to study.