This is what the first flare of radiation detected around the black hole at the center of our galaxy looks like

For the first time, astrophysicists have managed to detect a flare of mid-infrared radiation in the accretion disk of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers observed and separated the signals emitted by Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) to identify an enigmatic flash around its structure.

Sgr A* is a black hole with a mass of approximately 4 million times that of the Sun. It is located in the central region of the galaxy and, thanks to it, the Milky Way maintains a certain balance and continues to form stars. It is an active black hole that attracts and consumes matter while its rotation accelerates and its temperature increases.

Because the supermassive black hole is “consuming” dust and gas, the accretion disk that forms around it expels radiation outward. The most common observed from Earth is X-rays, a type of high-energy radiation. Gravitational structures also emit ultraviolet energy and even radio waves. Of course, due to the high temperature of the object, the infrared radiation can be imaged and processed to, for example, create images of Sgr A*.

Mid-infrared radiation to understand black holes

Detection of radiation emitted by the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole is covered from multiple approaches. The problem is that it is difficult to observe the phenomena that occur in the region near the black hole because the dense clouds that surround the center of the galaxy trap the radiation. Of all of them, infrared radiation is the only one that manages to “cross” the natural barriers of space, regardless of the distance.

The team from the Harvard Center for Astrophysics and the Max Planck Institute calibrated the instruments of NASA’s most powerful telescope to observe the behavior of Sgr A* in the mid-infrared spectrum. In this observation, they found a flare of infrared radiation, which can be thought of as a burst of heat. The phenomenon had not been recorded in two decades of continuous observation.

Scientists still cannot define the process that allows the generation of these flares of infrared radiation. So far, their models and simulations suggest that these flashes arise from the collision of magnetic field lines in the accretion disk of the supermassive black hole. The twisting of these fields alters subatomic particles such as electrons, which ultimately fuel this flare. On Earth, X-ray observatories couldn’t ‘see’ it because that burst doesn’t have such high energy levels.

The use of the mid-infrared spectrum is fundamental for science, since it ultimately provides information about what happens in the disk at that level. “The Sgr A* flare evolves and changes rapidly, within hours, and not all of these changes can be seen at all wavelengths. For more than 20 years, we have known what happens on the radio and what happens in near-infrared, but the connection between them was never 100% clear or certain,” this new observation in the mid-infrared fills that gap and connects the two,” explained Joseph Michail, one of the authors of the article.

Finally, the team of scientists recommends continuing observations of mid-infrared radiation in other well-located supermassive black holes, such as M87. With this it will be possible to better understand what happens in the areas closest to a black hole.