If so, what's there?
2007-06-14 11:31:09 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Yes, it is called Sagittarius A* and it is thought to be a supermassive black hole. The Sun is approx 26,000 light years from the Galactic Centre and safe from its harmful radiation (or life would have not got started here).
The Sun is NOT at the centre of the galaxy, (I think the first contributor doesn't know the difference between a solar system and a galaxy!) We (the Sun and its entourage) are located in the Orion spiral arm of the Milky Way.
Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star", standard abbreviation Sgr A*) is a bright and very compact source of radio emission at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, part of a larger astronomical feature at that location (Sagittarius A).
On October 16, 2002, an international team led by Rainer Schödel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics reported the observation of the motion of the star S2 near to Sagittarius A* for a period of ten years, and obtained evidence that Sagittarius A* is a highly massive compact object.
From examining the Keplerian orbit of S2, they determined the mass of Sagittarius A* to be 2.6 ± 0.2 million solar masses, confined in a volume with a radius no more than 17 light-hours (120 AU). Later observations determined the mass of the object to be about 3.7 million solar masses within a volume with radius no larger than 6.25 light-hours (45 AU).
This is compatible with, and strong evidence in support of, the hypothesis that Sagittarius A* is a supermassive black hole.
2007-06-14 11:35:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
There's a globular cluster at the center of many galaxies (including ours!) Here stars are much closer grouped together.
Life as we know it could not possibly exist in this region of the galaxy, radiation levels are unimaganiably high!
2007-06-14 19:24:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes there is a center to every galaxy it matters what it can be, either a Quesar which is a super giant star or when a quesar dies, a super dense black hole
2007-06-14 19:59:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, and there is a supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way, supposedly.
Check out the link for more details...
2007-06-14 18:35:10 · answer #4 · answered by Damien 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure; like all galaxies, there seems to be a super massive black hole there.
2007-06-14 18:36:36 · answer #5 · answered by Gene 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
For our galaxy it's the sun.
2007-06-14 18:34:27 · answer #6 · answered by FrozenFire 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It depends on how you look at it in relative vacuum !
2007-06-14 20:44:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yeah...me :)
2007-06-15 13:13:37 · answer #8 · answered by summerB 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋