Supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is approaching the cosmic speed limit, dragging space-time along with it

[Cold Ethyl]

Supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is spinning nearly as fast as it can, dragging the very fabric of space-time with it and shaping the heart of the Milky Way.

The supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy isn't just spinning — it's doing so at almost maximum speed, dragging anything near it along for the ride.

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1. Space
2. Astronomy
3. Black Holes

Supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is approaching the cosmic speed limit, dragging space-time along with it​

News
By Robert Lea
published 1 day ago

Supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is spinning nearly as fast as it can, dragging the very fabric of space-time with it and shaping the heart of the Milky Way.

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Comments (1)

An image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, which scientists think is spinning as fast as it can. (Image credit: EHT Collaboration)


The supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy isn't just spinning — it's doing so at almost maximum speed, dragging anything near it along for the ride.

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Physicists calculated the rotational speed of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), by using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to view the X-rays and radio waves emanating from outflows of material.

The spin speed of a black hole is defined as "a" and given a value from 0 to 1, with 1 being the maximum rotational speed to a particular black hole, which is a significant fraction of the speed of light. Ruth A. Daly, a physicist at Penn State, and colleagues found that the rotational speed of Sgr A* is between 0.84 and 0.96 — close to the top limit defined by a black hole's width. The team described Sgr A*'s blistering speed in a study published Oct. 21 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Discovering that Sgr A* is rotating at its maximum speed has far-reaching implications for our understanding of black hole formation and the astrophysical processes associated with these fascinating cosmic objects," Xavier Calmet, a theoretical physicist at the University of Sussex who was not involved in the research, told Live Science in an email.

https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/our-galaxys-monster-black-hole-is-spinning-at-top-speed-and-its-dragging-everything-along

 

[DokraOwl]

if you shine a laser at it you can technically add to its weight as light is a component of matter, imagine adding the one last photon that causes it to hit its peak of energy and explodes the universe, that would be cool. But we would all die, but nobody would be alive again to know, so win win!

 

[Popeyes]

PlayStation VR 2 review

Can we hear more about the PlayStation VR 2 review

 

[Bad Hippo]

As much as it's somewhat interesting reading about the rotational speed of Sagittarius A*, it honestly has no impact on my life. And as it's a few tens of thousands of light years away from Earth, even if anything funky did occur, the effect wouldn't reach Earth for tens of thousands of years - as the speed of light is the brake that everything with mass has to obey.

And if Sag A* has actually broke the space-time around it, and that effect is rushing towards us (and we've not seen it yet), there is literally nothing we can do to avert it. So, if the shit hits the fan, your options are:
1) Kill yourself
2) Wait for Sag A* to kill you

So, why worry?

 

[Jizdrop1]

1) Kill yourself


So, why worry?

Go on then!

 

[Bad Hippo]

Go on then!

(Looks out window) The shit has not hit the fan yet, it seems. No need to kill myself.

Although killing you might make me feel slightly better. Where do you live?

 

[Jizdrop1]

(Looks out window) The shit has not hit the fan yet, it seems. No need to kill myself.

Although killing you might make me feel slightly better. Where do you live?

Fuck off you prick! Talks cheap. Internet hard man lolz

 

[Bad Hippo]

You still havent told me where you live. Guess that makes you the pussy.

 

[Captain GhoulAgain]

if you shine a laser at it you can technically add to its weight as light is a component of matter, imagine adding the one last photon that causes it to hit its peak of energy and explodes the universe, that would be cool. But we would all die, but nobody would be alive again to know, so win win!

That would be one hell of an explosion. Do you think black holes work like that? I mean they could.

 

[Mondriaan]

These objects are subject to centrifugal forces and eventually fall apart.

 

[HardcoreLegend]

one issue at the time please.... can we deal with pandemics, economic crisies and wars first? before we start galactic level of threats?

 

[MysteryTraveler]

Fascinating! All that matter it is gobbling up has to be going somewhere.

 

[hedgerow]

this is terrible...just when i was beginning to get a better outlook about life too

 

[Device420]

if you shine a laser at it you can technically add to its weight as light is a component of matter, imagine adding the one last photon that causes it to hit its peak of energy and explodes the universe, that would be cool. But we would all die, but nobody would be alive again to know, so win win!

Wouldn't it implode?

 

[DokraOwl]

Wouldn't it implode?

As the foremost expert in elementary school level black hole-ology I believe it will either implode or explode based on whatever it feels like doing.

 

[Jwat]

As much as it's somewhat interesting reading about the rotational speed of Sagittarius A*, it honestly has no impact on my life. And as it's a few tens of thousands of light years away from Earth, even if anything funky did occur, the effect wouldn't reach Earth for tens of thousands of years - as the speed of light is the brake that everything with mass has to obey.

And if Sag A* has actually broke the space-time around it, and that effect is rushing towards us (and we've not seen it yet), there is literally nothing we can do to avert it. So, if the shit hits the fan, your options are:
1) Kill yourself
2) Wait for Sag A* to kill you

So, why worry?

Technically you're right. But we can't observe the black hole in real time. So in theory if something did happen 10,000 years ago we could see the effects in our lifetime.

 

[wiggins]

You still havent told me where you live. Guess that makes you the pussy.

He lives at:

Unit 4, 27 Bankhead Terrace,

Edinburgh, EH11 4DB

 

[Bill Murray]

does the black hole need a name?