X-ray Flare at the Center of the Milky Way
October 23rd, 2012
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has captured these first, focused views of the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy in high-energy X-ray light. This is the location of our Milky Way's humongous black hole, called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short. NuSTAR is the first telescope to be able to focus high-energy X-rays, giving astronomers a new tool for probing extreme objects such as black holes.

This time series shows a flare caught by NuSTAR over an observing period of two days in July 2012; the middle panel shows the peak of the flare, when the black hole was consuming and heating matter to temperatures up to 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius).

The images show light with energies of 3 to 30 keV.

Observation

About the Object

Name
Sagittarius A*Sgr A*
Type
Galaxy > Component > Center/Core
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole
Distance
25,900 Light Years

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
X-ray 5.0 keV NuSTAR
X-ray 8.5 keV NuSTAR
X-ray 20.0 keV NuSTAR

Astrometrics

Position (2000)
RA = 17h 45m 39.0s
Dec = -29° 0' 34.3"
Field of View
12.3 x 12.3 arcminutes
Orientation
North is 28.0° left of vertical