08-13-2019, 04:37 PM
"Unpresidented" bright flashes from the Galaxy's black hole
Shortly before the MK observatories were forced to shut down, observations using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea showed bright flashes from the black hole at the center of the Galaxy. The cause of the flashes is not yet understood but is likely due to infalling matter as it approaches the Schwarzschild radius, the point where light can no longer escape from a black hole.
Article on CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/world/mil...index.html
And the video and some explanations available via twitter:
https://twitter.com/quantumpenguin/statu...7590727680
Note that the field of view of the video is one by one arcsecond. This roughly how large a star appears to the naked eye at a good seeing site. The resolution of the images is about 60-milliarcseconds, which is far better than any space telescope can deliver due to the use of adaptive optics at Keck.
Shortly before the MK observatories were forced to shut down, observations using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea showed bright flashes from the black hole at the center of the Galaxy. The cause of the flashes is not yet understood but is likely due to infalling matter as it approaches the Schwarzschild radius, the point where light can no longer escape from a black hole.
Article on CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/world/mil...index.html
And the video and some explanations available via twitter:
https://twitter.com/quantumpenguin/statu...7590727680
Note that the field of view of the video is one by one arcsecond. This roughly how large a star appears to the naked eye at a good seeing site. The resolution of the images is about 60-milliarcseconds, which is far better than any space telescope can deliver due to the use of adaptive optics at Keck.