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> Astronomers call it Sagittarius A* (pronounced “A-star”). Why do astronomers call the black hole "A Star" when they know better than anyone else that it's no
by stephengillie 8y ago
> Astronomers call it Sagittarius A* (pronounced “A-star”).
Why do astronomers call the black hole "A Star" when they know better than anyone else that it's not a star, but a black hole?
Why don't we call it "Sagittarius A-black hole"?
- scentoni 8y agoThe asterisk has nothing to do with indicating it is a star. > The name Sgr A* was coined by Brown in a 1982 paper because the radio source was "exciting", and excited states of atoms are denoted with asterisks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A*
- stephengillie 8y agoSo it's pronounced "Sagittarius A-asterisk"?
- phs318u 8y agoAsterisk is derived from asteriskos, the Greek diminutive for star (aster) - hence "little star". In addition, a black hole is one of several possible lifecycle end-points of a star, so pronouncing A* as A-star is pretty accurate.
- pc86 8y agoYou just quoted a source saying it wasn't, stop trolling.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]