Inbox Astronomy: Webb Reveals Rapid-Fire Light Show From Milky Way's Central Black Hole

INBOX ASTRONOMY

Webb Reveals Rapid-Fire Light Show From Milky Way's Central Black Hole

Release date: Tuesday, February 18, 2025 11:00:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Observations revealed ongoing fireworks featuring short bursts and longer flares.

Imagine solar flares, but on a mind-boggling scale. A constant scintillation that is bright enough to shine across 26,000 light-years of space. And interspersed between the flickers, brilliant flashes that spew out on a daily basis.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have spotted this activity in the center of our galaxy. The source is the accretion disk around the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole. Webb detected brightness changes over remarkably short timescales, meaning they are coming from the black hole’s inner disk, not far beyond its event horizon.

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Find additional articles, images, and videos at WebbTelescope.org

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