Explanation: What does it feel like to zoom around a spinning┬аsupermassive black hole? The┬аfeatured video┬аis an animation showing a time-lapse of 4 years of observations of the star S301 orbiting┬аSagittarius A*, the 4-million-solar-mass black hole in the center of our Galaxy. S301 was┬аdiscovered┬аin 2023 with the┬аVery Large Telescope Interferometer┬аof the┬аEuropean Southern Observatory, located in the┬аAtacama Desert┬аin Chile. Astronomers┬аrecently found┬аthat S301 takes approximately 8.7 years to go around and reaches speeds of 25,000 km/s. It comes closer to the black hole than any┬аother stars┬аdetected before, at a distance similar to that from┬аSaturn┬аto the┬аSun. Because it comes so close to Sagittarius A*, S301 could be used to directly measure how fast the black hole spins and test┬аEinstein‘s theory of┬аgeneral relativity. According to the theory, a spinning black hole┬аdrags the fabric of spacetime┬аaround itself, affecting the orbits of close-by objects.
Tomorrow’s picture:┬а1,706 meteors
