Astronomers have captured the first image of a supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorized photo was unveiled Thursday from the international consortium behind the Event Horizon Telescope. That is a collection of eight synchronized radio telescopes around the world.
It’s extremely hard to get images of black holes. Light gets chaotically bent and twisted by the massive gravity of each of these space structures as it is sucked into the abyss along with superheated gas and dust. The new image is fuzzy as a result.
Astronomers believe that nearly all galaxies have these giant black holes at their centers. Light and matter that are drawn into them supposedly cannot escape. What purpose might these creations serve in the integrity of a galaxy system? As we learn, we marvel at the wisdom and complexity of God’s design.
The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A*. It is near the border of the Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations—cosmically speaking. (“Near” in space terms can still mean billions of miles or more.) Scientists say Sagittarius A* is about 27,000 light-years away from Earth. (A light-year is 5.9 trillion miles. Do that math!) It is about four million times more massive than our Sun.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. — Hebrews 11:3
(This image released on Thursday, May 12, 2022, shows a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A*. It is near the border of the Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations. Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration via AP)
