The mystery of black holes - where gravity is so dense not even light can escape - has entranced science fiction writers and astronomers alike for years.
Interestingly, a black hole believed to be four million times the mass of Earth's sun is said to exist - and it is at the centre of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
Now, a new view of this mysterious inner region, including those parts shrouded in cosmic dust, has been created. The result is stunning images of our immediate location in the universe, including the galactic core and the aforementioned black hole.
Called the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL), the galaxy-atlas was created by a 125,000Kg telescope sitting in the Chilean Andes.
Crucially, the telescope allows astronomers to see parts of the galaxy usually hidden behind a "dark shroud of dust clouds".
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| The core: the red and yellow tinged area is the location of Sagittarius B2, the central area of the Milky Way, close to the location of the "Galactic Centre" and a black hole [image: www.eso.org] |
Revealed, at a distance of 25,000 light-years away (relatively close, if you watched this video tour of the universe), is a black hole that has been described as a "monster lurking at our Galaxy's heart". Astronomers have been studying this area for years, and in December last year unveiled new detailed images.
Black holes are thought to be crucial to galaxy evolution. Researchers are now using supercomputers to analyse the possible effect black hole could have in starving galaxies of their building blocks.
An Australia-based researcher, Dr. Darren Croton, recently spoke on the topic "Simulating the life and death of galaxies" in an interview conducted by ABC Radio National. You can listen to a podcast of the interview here.