Earth inching closer to Milky Way's supermassive black hole at 7kms: Study

According to a new map issued by a Japanese rio astromy project VERA, planet Earth has edged some 2000 light-years closer to a supermassive black hole situated at heart of Milky Way Galaxy. t just that, sole habitable planet in solar system was w speeding 7 km/s (~16,000 mph) faster towards gigantic celestial void.

Based on new values drafted by VLBI Exploration of Rio Astrometry, Supermassive Black Hole is w sitting at 25,800 light-years from Earth, whereas, in 1985, International Astromical Union h calculated this value to be 27,700 light-years. 

In an official anuncement, National Astromical Observatory of Japan revealed that Japanese researchers initiated project to measure three-dimensional velocity and spatial structures in Milky Way in 2000 using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI).

geodetic technique accumulates signal from from an astromical rio source, such as a quasar according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Using this technique, more than 15 years of observations were compiled, which was accrued using mission's array of telescopes. Scientists in Japanese laboratory mapped three-dimensional velocity and spatial structures of Milky Way and position of Earth and published map in VERA’s Astrometry Catalog which also contained data for 99 or celestial objects.

[Center of  Milky Way galaxy, with  supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), located in  middle. Credit: NASA]

[Position and velocity map of Milky Way Galaxy. Arrows show position and velocity data for 224 objects used to model Milky Way Galaxy. solid black lines show positions of Galaxy’s spiral arms. Credit: NAOJ]

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4.2 million times size of Sun

Researchers, in a NAOJ release, informed that measurement accuracy of galactic objects and Earth achieved with interferometry technique helped study details with same resolution as 2300 km diameter telescope. As per researchers, this resolution (10 micro-arcseconds), "is sharp eugh in ory to resolve a United States penny placed on surface of Moon." 

"Astrometry, accurate measurement of positions and motions of objects, is a vital tool to understand overall structure of Galaxy and our place in it," y furr ded.

supermassive black hole, kwn as Sagittarius A* or Sgr A* is an estimated 4.2 million times  size of sun and has an intense gravitational field. It was first discovered by Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. VERA aims to get more details about objects surrounding Supermassive Blackhole and will enhance equipment for same. It will participate in EAVN (East Asian VLBI Network) comprising of a rio telescope located in Japan, South Korea, and China.

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(Im Credit: NAOJ)