ESA - Space Science - Milky Way's giant black hole awoke from slumber 300 years ago

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Milky Way's giant black hole awoke from slumber 300 years ago

15 April 2008

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This Chandra image shows our galaxy’s centre. The location of the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short, is arrowed.

Credits: NASA/CXC/MIT/Frederick K. Baganoff et al.

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Four X-ray satellites imaged a small region in the gas cloud Sagittarius B2, and saw pockets brighten and fade over the course of nearly 12 years. These light echoes are caused by varying X-ray output from our galaxy’s central black hole.

Credits: ASCA and Suzaku: JAXA. Chandra: NASA/CXC. XMM-Newton: ESA

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An assembly of 51 mirrors, carefully sized, formed and nested one inside another, makes XMM-Newton the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever built. ESA's XMM-Newton derives its name from its X-ray multi-mirror design and honours Sir Isaac Newton. This unique X-ray observatory was launched by Ariane 5 from the European spaceport in French Guiana on 10 December 1999.

Credits: ESA

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