Supermassive Black Hole At The Center Of Milky Way Is Getting Hungrier

Last month, we learned that the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy was flaring, although no one was sure why. Now, astronomers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have revealed more about what they think may be driving this unprecedented event.

Lying at the heart of the Milky Way, the Sagittarius A* or Sgr A* black hole is typically a relatively gentle giant. But when astronomers analyzed 13,000 observations of it from 133 nights since 2003, they found that on May 13 of this year the matter around the black hole glowed twice as brightly as usual. The same bright flaring was observed on two other nights this year as well. This indicates the black hole is consuming much more dust and gas on these nights than is usual.

“We have never seen anything like this in the 24 years we have studied the supermassive black hole,” Andrea Ghez, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA and a co-author of the research, said in a statement. “It’s usually a pretty quiet, wimpy black hole on a diet. We don’t know what is driving this big feast.”