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Scientists find closest star to the Milky Way's central black hole
Ars Technica • • general
Key Points:
- Researchers have discovered a new star, S301, with an extremely eccentric orbit around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sgr A*, bringing it closer than any previously known star.
- S301 completes an orbit in just 8.7 years, moving at speeds up to 25,000 km/s near its closest approach, which is estimated to be as close as 11 Astronomical Units from Sgr A*.
- This proximity allows scientists to potentially measure the spin of Sgr A* by observing how the black hole’s spin influences the precession of S301’s orbit, a measurement not previously possible.
- The discovery was made using the GRAVITY instrument on the Very Large Telescope, which combines light from four telescopes to achieve high resolution necessary for tracking stars near Sgr A*.
- Tracking S301’s orbit over the next decade could provide unprecedented insights into the black hole’s properties, including its shape and any additional characteristics beyond mass and spin.
