Groundbreaking Discovery: Binary Stars Orbiting the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
In a groundbreaking discovery that challenges our understanding of extreme cosmic environments, astronomers have detected the first-ever binary star system orbiting near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
The stellar pair, designated D9, was discovered using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. Located approximately 26,000 light-years from Earth, these two stars are gravitationally bound to each other while circling the 4.3-million-solar-mass black hole at the heart of the Milky Way.
“Black holes are not as destructive as we thought,” said Florian Peißker of the University of Cologne, lead author of the study published in Nature Communications on December 17, 2024. “The discovery shows that binary stars can briefly survive in conditions previously thought too chaotic for stable stellar systems.”
The D9 system is estimated to be only 2.7 million years old—remarkably young in cosmic terms. However, its lifespan near the supermassive black hole will be short-lived. Scientists predict the intense gravitational forces will cause the two stars to merge into a single star within approximately one million years.
This finding has profound implications for our understanding of star formation near black holes. The discovery suggests these extreme environments may be stable enough to allow not only binary stars but potentially even planets to exist.
“It seems plausible that the detection of planets in the galactic center is just a matter of time,” Peißker added.
Source: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2418/