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The Supermassive Black Hole at the Heart of Our Galaxy Seems to Be Blowing Wind—Just as Scientists Long Theorized
Key takeaways
- NASA / CXC / Northwestern University / Mark Gorski Every large galaxy, including our own Milky Way, is thought to have a supermassive black hole at its center.
- Before falling into a black hole, its feast of gas and dust spirals inward toward the object.
- Now, after more than 50 years of searching, scientists say they’ve finally found evidence of a mild breeze billowing from our galaxy’s heart.
NASA / CXC / Northwestern University / Mark Gorski Every large galaxy, including our own Milky Way, is thought to have a supermassive black hole at its center. These behemoths are known to consume anything that gets too close.
Before falling into a black hole, its feast of gas and dust spirals inward toward the object. The material travels faster as it nears the black pit, generating enough energy to fling away some would-be food and creating wind. While scientists have observed strong winds from other black holes, the Milky Way’s supermassive resident, called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short, appeared to be an outlier.
Now, after more than 50 years of searching, scientists say they’ve finally found evidence of a mild breeze billowing from our galaxy’s heart. The findings, published on June 4 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggest that the Milky Way isn’t a weirdo and that even quiet black holes blow wind, albeit relatively gently.