Galactic Centre
The Galactic Centre (or Galactic Center) is the rotational center of the Milky Way galaxy.
It is a supermassive black hole of 4,100 ± 0.034 million solar masses. It powers the compact radio source Sagittarius A*.[1][2][3][4]
It is 8 ± 0.4 kiloparsecs (26,100 ± 1,300 ly) away from Earth[5] in the direction of the constellations Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, and Scorpius where the Milky Way appears brightest.
Baade's window
[change | change source]Walter Baade searched for the centre of the Milky Way galaxy in the mid-1940s. He used the 100-inch (2.5 m) Hooker telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory in California.
Up until then the structure and position of the galactic center was not known for sure.[6]
In 2006, the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) conducted a survey of 180,000 stars for seven days. The objective was to detect extrasolar planets by the transit method.[7]
OGLE and other observation programs have successfully detected extrasolar planets orbiting around central bulge stars in this area by the gravitational microlensing method.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Scientists find proof a black hole is lurking at the centre of our galaxy". Metro. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
- ↑ "A 'mind-boggling' telescope observation has revealed the point of no return for our galaxy's monster black hole". The Middletown Press. 2018-10-31. Archived from the original on 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
- ↑ Plait, Phil (2018-11-08). "Astronomers see material orbiting a black hole *right* at the edge of forever". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018.
- ↑ Henderson, Mark (2009-12-09). "Astronomers confirm black hole at the heart of the Milky Way". Times Online. Archived from the original on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
- ↑ Gillessen, S.; Eisenhauer, F.; Fritz, T.K.; Pfuhl, O.; Genzel, R. (2013). "The distance to the Galactic Center". Advancing the Physics of Cosmic Distances, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium, Volume 289. 8: 29–35. Bibcode:2013IAUS..289...29G. doi:10.1017/S1743921312021060.
- ↑ Baade W. (August 1946). "A search for the nucleus of our galaxy". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 58 (343): 249–252. Bibcode:1946PASP...58..249B. doi:10.1086/125835.
- ↑ "SIMBAD Details on Acronym: SWEEPS". SIMBAD. Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2009-05-21.