Gallery | Cosmic Halloween | The mourning woman at the Milky Way's heart
At the center of our Milky Way galaxy lurks a massive black hole, which, for the moment, is quiet. The surrounding material barely glows in radio waves, but there, off to the right... is that the baleful face of a woman, just a half a light year from the monster? Why is she sad? What is she mourning?
Perhaps she perceives her own fate: being twisted around, the gas making up her visage warped and wrapped as it circles that black hole over thousands of years, eventually, it may be, to take the final plunge into eterity.
Image credit: Zhao & Goss, using the VLA radio telescope
Original image: Introduction to Radio Astronomy
Perhaps she perceives her own fate: being twisted around, the gas making up her visage warped and wrapped as it circles that black hole over thousands of years, eventually, it may be, to take the final plunge into eterity.
Image credit: Zhao & Goss, using the VLA radio telescope
Original image: Introduction to Radio Astronomy
