X-ray images from NASA have shown the middle of our galaxy in stunning detail. The image from the space agency shows a plethora of stunning colours caused by gasses heated up to one million degrees Celsius and a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, which has a mass of around four million times that of the Sun.<\/p>\n
Neutron stars and white dwarf stars tearing materials apart also contribute to the bright centre of the Milky Way.<\/p>\n
NASA said of the image: \"The central region of our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains an exotic collection of objects, including a supermassive black hole weighing about 4 million times the mass of the Sun (called Sagittarius A*), clouds of gas at temperatures of millions of degrees, neutron stars and white dwarf stars tearing material from companion stars and beautiful tendrils of radio emission.\"<\/p>\n
Sagittarius A* has a radius of 22 million kilometres and a mass of more than four million times that of the Sun. In other words, it is very dense.<\/p>\n
And because it is so heavy, it has the ability to completely stretch out space-time to a point where one minute on the edge of Sagittarius A* will see 700 years pass on Earth.<\/p>\n
Emma Osborne, an astrophysicist at the University of Southampton, told an audience at New Scientist Live: Anything mass will stretch space-time. And the heavier something is, or the more mass it has, the more it will stretch space-time.<\/p>\n
If you were to stand just outside the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, and you stood there for one minute, 700 years would pass because time passes so much slower in the gravitational field there than it does on Earth.<\/p>\n
There are a few ways in which a black hole can form.<\/p>\n
Scientists believe the most common instance is when a star, thousands of times the size of the Sun, collapses in on itself when it dies - known as a supernova.<\/p>\n
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NASA news: Space agency reveals stunning image of heart of the Milky Way - Express.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" X-ray images from NASA have shown the middle of our galaxy in stunning detail. The image from the space agency shows a plethora of stunning colours caused by gasses heated up to one million degrees Celsius and a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, which has a mass of around four million times that of the Sun Continue reading