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The Milky Way’s black hole flickers and flares
- The Milky Way's black hole, Sagittarius A*, has been observed emitting flares and flickers by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
- These flares are compared to solar flares but are more dramatic due to the extreme environment around a black hole.
- The activity of the black hole appears random, with bright eruptions and faint flickers detected.
- The study, led by Farhad Yusef-Zadeh of Northwestern University, reveals constant changes and bursts of brightness in Sagittarius A*.
- The observations show a high level of activity ranging from short flickers to bright eruptions.
- The findings could help understand black hole dynamics and the evolution of the Milky Way.
- Two processes are suspected to cause short bursts and longer flares in the black hole, likely involving disturbances in the accretion disk.
- Magnetic reconnection events and plasma compression are thought to be responsible for the bright flares seen.
- Observations with Webb's NIRCam showed a slight time delay in brightness changes between different wavelengths.
- Future observations aim to obtain uninterrupted views of Sagittarius A* over extended periods to reduce noise and reveal finer details.
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