FRANCE: A group of astronomers headed by Dr Andreas Eckart from the University of Cologne, Germany, has made the best observations so far of a dusty red object at the Milky Way’s galactic center, known as G2, using the SINFONI instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
According to the group, G2 made its closest approach to the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, in May 2014 and has survived the experience. G2is a dusty red object located approximately 26,000 light-years away from the Solar System. The object, which was discovered in 2002, has been observed to be disrupting since 2009, and was predicted by some scientists to be completely destroyed in 2014 by a close encounter (peribothron) with Sagittarius A* at a distance of 3,000 times the radius of the black hole’s event horizon.
The great tidal forces in this region of very strong gravity were expected to tear G2 and disperse it along its orbit. Some of this material would feed the black hole and lead to sudden flaring and other evidence of the monster enjoying a rare meal. To study these unique events, the region has been very carefully observed over the past few years by many teams of astronomers.
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