European Southern Observatory (ESO)

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Contact
SMC participants
Xavier Barcons

Director General of ESO (European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere)

Contents related to this centre
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)
astrophysics
What we have learned from the first image of Sagittarius A*

The first direct image of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy shows a 'monster' devouring matter at a slow pace. The black hole itself is spinning, and its spin axis is pointing just 30 degrees away from us. The result shows that the size of the black hole is proportional to the mass it contains, confirming the theory of general relativity. Xavier Barcons, ESO's Director General, assesses the new finding.