3 ms·

Twisted magnetic field observed around Milky Way's central black hole

• tithe 3y ago
  Is the apparent lopsidedness of the black hole in the image due to imaging issues (or the angle the image is being taken at)? I think it's from looking at artistic illustrations why I think that black holes should be perfectly round / symmetrical, but I'm not even sure if these structures are flat, spherical, or something else!
  • floxy 3y ago
    Maybe... https://www.astronomy.com/science/ask-astro-blobs-in-image-of-sagittarius-a/ https://www.astronomy.com/science/ask-astro-blobs-in-image-o... https://www.astronomy.com/science/blob-of-hot-gas-swirls-around-milky-way-black-hole-at-30-speed-of-light/ https://www.astronomy.com/science/blob-of-hot-gas-swirls-aro... ...or the elongation might be due to the fact that it is spinning at 60% of the theoretical maximum: "Sgr A* is spinning so quickly that it is warping spacetime — that is, time and the three dimensions of space — so that it can look more like a football." https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/telescopes-show-the-milky-ways-black-hole-is-ready-for-a-kick/ https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/telescopes-show-the-milky...
    • tithe 3y ago
      Interesting, thank you. The thought that an object is "spinning so quickly that it is warping spacetime" just made my day!