In the new study, published today (Jan.) in the journalNature, astronomers describe Six mysterious objects swirling around our galaxy’s central black hole. According to the authors, these anomalous objects (dubbed G1 through G6) look like oblong blobs of gas several times more massive than Earth. However, they behave like small stars capable of passing perilously close to the black hole’s edge without being ripped to shreds.:****************************************************************************** Fascinating Facts About Our Milky Way Galaxy
“Black holes may be driving binary stars to merge,” study co-author Andrea Ghez, a professor of astrophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement. “It’s possible that many of the stars we’ve been watching and not understanding may be the end product of [these] mergers.”Wanderers of the voidThe first two G objects were discovered in 2014 and (********************************************************************, respectively. Because the two objects followed a strikingly similar orbit around Sgr A *, some astronomers interpreted them as wisps of gas ripped away from an unfortunate dead star, or as clumped-up “knots” in a continuous ring of gas swirling around the hole.
New blobs on the block
to test this hypothesis, the study authors spent several years scouring the galaxy’s center from the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii, searching for more potential G-type objects. The team identified four new blobs that fit the bill, each one following a wildly different orbital path around Sgr A * but showing similar characteristics as G1 and G2. The new objects look like compact clouds of gas most of the time, the researchers said, but when their orbits (which range from 100 to 1, years (bring them closest to the black hole, they become warped and elongated, just as G2 did.
Because each object follows a unique orbit, the theory that all of these blobs are knots of gas riding a single wheel of matter around the hole does hold up. The likeliest explanation, the authors wrote, is that the G blobs are the products of binary stars that got smooshed together by the black hole’s gravity – an explosive merger that can stain the sky with gas and infrared radiation.
The number of observed G-type objects fits. with the expected percentage of binary stars in the central hub of the galaxy, the authors wrote. Further, because stars take about 1 million years to merge, the objects may well have been born during the last known star formation event near Sgr A *, which took place about 5 million years ago.
while the explanation seems to fit, researchers can ‘t be certain until they locate and study more binary stars that seem to have been thrown together by a black hole. It might not take another eight years to find them – the study authors said they already have a few nearby candidates in mind, which they will continue to observe.
(9 Epic Space Discoveries You Probably Missed in ************************************ (The) Weirdest Galaxies in Our Universe
(The) ******************************************************************************** Strangest Objects in the Universe
********************************
(Originally published on (************************************** (Live Science) **************************************************************
******************************************** (**************************************************************************************Need more space? (************************************************************************ Subscribe to our sister title “All About Space” Magazine************************************** for the latest amazing news from the final frontier! (********************************************** (Image credit: All About Space). ************************************************************************** Join our Space Forumsto keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at:[email protected].**************************(****************************************************************************************** (Read More) ******** (**************************************************************************************************** ()
Because each object follows a unique orbit, the theory that all of these blobs are knots of gas riding a single wheel of matter around the hole does hold up. The likeliest explanation, the authors wrote, is that the G blobs are the products of binary stars that got smooshed together by the black hole’s gravity – an explosive merger that can stain the sky with gas and infrared radiation.
********************************
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings