Using the VLT, researchers observed the black hole Sagittarius A*, which is located at the centre of the Milky Way
Unlike many supermassive black holes,Sagittarius A * is in a kind of hibernation and does not absorb matter. Due to this, it does not emit energy and red-hot matter - jets, therefore it is practically invisible to conventional telescopes. This is what allowed several tens of stars and large clouds of gas to exist, which formed in the immediate vicinity of Sagittarius A *.
In the new work, astronomers have tracked the star S2, which is orbiting the black hole at a distance of less than 20 billion kmone of the closest stars to the object.
S2 does not rotate in a circular orbit, butprocesses - this means that the location of its point closest to the supermassive black hole changes with each rotation. Thus, when moving, it forms the shape of a socket.
"Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that the bound orbits of one object around another are not closed, as in Newtonian gravity, but precessThis famous effect, first seen in the orbit of the planet Mercury around the Sun, was the first evidence in favor of General Relativity.A hundred years later, we found the same effectin motion of a star orbiting Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way.This observation also confirms that Sagittarius A* is a supermassive black hole with a mass that is 4 million times greater thanSolar"
Reinhard Hansel, lead author of the study
Astronomers previously discovered the Sagittarius A * star closest to the black hole. S62 rotates record fast - during movement, it accelerates to 10% of the speed of light, and the year on it lasts 9.9 Earth years.