Mystery radio signal detected coming from the heart of our galaxy and may be sent from a black hole – The Sun

THE heart of our Milky Way galaxy is blinking at us, according to scientists.

Mysterious signals from Sagittarius A, a huge black hole at the centre of our galaxy, were picked up by one of the world's most powerful telescopes.

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In a new study, experts at Keio University in Japan outline how the strange, repeating signals may form.

"This emission could be related with some exotic phenomena occurring at the very vicinity of the supermassive black hole," team member Professor Tomoharu Okasaid.

Researchers studied readings of Sagitarius A (Sag A) taken in 2017 by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

They found a previously-undiscovered light signalcoming from the supermassive black hole, which is four million times as massive as our Sun.

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The burst of energy likely originated from a region of swirling hot gas around Sag A known as its accretion disk.

Activity appears to stem from the innermost edge of the disk.

The edge is close to the black hole, which is spinning gas and debris around at close to the speed of light.

During this process, random "hot spots" appear that flash millimeter and submillimeter light - the signal detected by the scientists.

What is a black hole? The key facts

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It remains unclear what is causing the flashes, but scientists hope the answer could help them learn more about the activity of black holes.

Experts may struggle to find out, however, as photos of Sag A are next-to-impossible to capture because it absorbs all surrounding light.

"The faster the movement is, the more difficult it is to take a photo of the object," Professor Oka said.

The research was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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What do you think of the black hole find? Let us know in the comments!

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Mystery radio signal detected coming from the heart of our galaxy and may be sent from a black hole - The Sun