A black hole changes the color of stars in the Milky Way and people wonder what’s going on. In a Nov. 12 discovery in Astrophysical Journal, Michal Zajacek of the Polish Academy of Sciences noted the phenomena. A supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A is located in the center of the galaxy. That spot had been pumping out gas that was literally seeping from the outer layers of several stars in the Milky Way. Now, that might sound like a five alarm problem, but there’s nothing to worry about at this point. To hear the Zajacek tell, the two great bubbles of gamma ray gas do not travel much further than the immediate vicinity. In fact, it is currently claimed that scientists can now more easily hypothesize when the black hole formed. Speaking to Science News, the astrophysicist said the red giants were the main target.
“The jet prefers to operate on large red giants,” he says. “They can be effectively removed by the jet.”
Their reporting goes on to say that the size and shape of these stars make them very sensitive to gamma-ray gases. Other red giants can grow up to 100 times the size of our sun. At that size, removing the red outer layer would put them in immediate danger. As these gases pass, the stars burn blue instead of red, which explains the color change.
Perhaps one day explorers of our planet will be able to investigate these kinds of movements. Other contemporaries in the scientific community have argued that there should be more to this situation than just exposure to gas. Time will tell.
In other space news, the United States recently revealed its name for Space Force. They will be known as Guardians, and the newest branch of the military described it on Twitter. “Today, after a year-long process that has generated hundreds of submissions and studies involving space professionals and members of the general public, we can finally share with you the name by which we will be known: Guardians.”
Do you think we’ll be traveling the entire galaxy for the next 100 years? Let us know in the comments!
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