Images of gas cloud being ripped apart by the black hole at the centre of the galaxy

Eso_eso1332e_1024

eso_eso1332e July 17th, 2013

Credit: ESO/S. Gillessen

These observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope, using the SINFONI instrument, show how a gas cloud is being stretched and ripped apart as it passes close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. The horizontal axis shows the extent of the cloud along its orbit and the vertical axis shows the velocities of different parts of the cloud during the last ten years. The cloud is now (2013) dramatically stretched out and the velocity of the front is several million km/h different from that of the tail.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1332e/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Milky Way • Milky Way Galactic Centre • Sgr A*
Subject - Milky Way
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red VLT (SINFONI) Infrared (Hydrogen Bracket gamma) -
Eso_eso1332e_1280
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ID
eso1332e
Subject Category
B.5.4.6  
Subject Name
Milky Way, Milky Way Galactic Centre, Sgr A*
Credits
ESO/S. Gillessen
Release Date
2013-07-17T12:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1332e/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Very Large Telescope
Instrument
SINFONI
Color Assignment
Red
Band
Infrared
Bandpass
Hydrogen Bracket gamma
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
4557.0, 750.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso1332e
Resource URL
https://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso1332e.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2013-07-12T12:06:18+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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