A Flicker From the Dark

While light cannot escape a black hole, the bright glow of rapidly orbiting gas has its own unique flicker. In a recent paper submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters, UC Santa Barbara’s Sean Ressler, Lena Murchikova at the Institute for Advanced Study and Chris White at Princeton University were able to use this subtle flickering to construct the most accurate model to date of our own galaxy’s central black hole — Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) — providing insight into properties such as its structure and motion. (Read more.)