Sagittarius A*, imaged

The shadow of the Milky Way's central black hole against the glowing gas around it, imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. The ring is about the size of Mercury's orbit.

The picture hangs at that distance facing Earth, as large as it is on the sky; how deep the object is cannot be seen, so it is flat.

Taken by

Event Horizon Telescope

Picture spans

171 million km

From the Sun

26,670 light-years

RA / Dec

266.42° / -29.01°

Credit

EHT Collaboration

Sagittarius A*, abbreviated as Sgr A*, is the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. Viewed from Earth, it is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, about 5.6° south of the ecliptic, visually close to the Butterfly Cluster (M6) and Lambda Scorpii. Sagittarius A* is a bright and very compact astronomical radio source.

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