The Cosmic Monster, and the astronomers have been hiding in the center of our galaxy. It distorts the fabric of space-time itself, giving it the shape of a soccer ball.
According to the general theory of relativity of Einstein, the mass twists the space-time – a four-dimensional “fabric” that penetrates the universe, and we feel this curvature as gravity. This happens with any amount of mass – even a person affects space-time, but this becomes noticeable only when interacting with extremely massive objects, for example, with black holes or whole galaxy.
In such cases, unusual phenomena occur. Galaxies can act as lenses that increase bright objects behind them, which allows us to see much further into space. The clashes between black holes and neutron stars are sent along the ripples to the universe. An extremely dense star system was seen, which affects space-time with its movement and curvature. And now the astronomers have found that the ultra-massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way also produces strange effects with space-time.
This black hole, known as the Sagittarius A* (SGR A*), has a mass of about 4 million suns, which gives it a significant impact on the continuum of space-time. New studies have shown that Sagittarius A* rotates so quickly that if you look at it on the side, the space-time around it is compressed to the shape of the football ball.
To calculate the speed of rotation of the arrow A*, astronomers used data in the X-ray range from the Chandra space telescope and radio-radio from a very large antenna lattice ( vla ), based on how matter moves around her. Their study showed that the angular velocity of the black hole is about 60% of the speed of light, and the angular moment is about 90% of the light speed.
Of course, the distortion of reality itself does not pass without consequences. The rapid rotation of Sagittarius A* generates a huge amount of energy, which can cause emissions of matter around a black hole. Giant X-ray “pipes” above and under the plane of our galaxy indicate that in the past the Sagittarius A* was much more active, and in the future its activity may increase.