Near a black hole, materials are typically drawn in by its powerful gravity. However, astronomers have made a surprising discovery that several celestial bodies near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way are not being consumed, but instead are orbiting in stable trajectories. This completely challenges the existing understanding of black holes by astronomers.
A press release from the University of Cologne in Germany on November 28 revealed that an international research team led by astronomer Florian Peissker discovered several celestial bodies orbiting stably around the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* in the center of the galaxy.
Utilizing a new observational instrument called Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) on the Very Large Telescope in Chile, the research team came to this finding.
Previous studies had suggested that some of these celestial bodies might be engulfed by Sagittarius A*, but the new observational data has refuted this assumption.
The research focused on four peculiar celestial bodies of recent interest. Among them, G2 had long been thought to be a cloud of dust and gas that was initially stretched by the gravitational force of Sagittarius A* before being destroyed.
However, observations in the near-infrared wavelength range using ERIS revealed that G2 follows a stable orbit. This indicates the presence of a star within the dust cloud. These results confirm that the center of the galaxy not only possesses destructive forces but may also unexpectedly exhibit stability.
Peissker and his research team previously discovered the binary system D9 near Sagittarius A* in 2024. Despite the enormous tidal forces exerted by the black hole, this system remains stable. It is currently the first known binary system to be so close to a supermassive black hole.
The age of D9 is estimated to be only 1.7 million years, as reported by Epoch Times before. The powerful gravity of Sagittarius A* may cause the two stars to merge into a single star within a million years. For such a young system, this is a relatively short timeframe.
According to the University of Cologne’s press release, the ERIS data so far indicates that D9 remains intact and has not yet merged. The same applies to the celestial bodies X3 and X7, which also orbit in stable trajectories, much more stable than earlier models predicted.
Peissker stated, “The fact that these bodies can operate in such a stable manner so close to the black hole is quite intriguing. Our research results indicate that the destructive nature of Sagittarius A* is less than previously believed. This makes the center of our galaxy an ideal laboratory for studying the interaction between black holes and stars.”
This study also confirms that the evolution process at the center of the galaxy is much more complex than previously thought. Michal Zajaček, an astronomer at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, explained, “The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way not only destroys stars but also promotes the formation of stars or some very peculiar dust entities, likely achieved through binary mergers.”
Researchers suggest that future observations using ERIS and the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope currently under construction should help further track the evolution of these celestial bodies and understand how stars survive in the extreme regions of the universe.
The research findings mentioned above were published on November 28 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.