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Updated October 28th, 2021 at 00:36 IST

James Webb and EH telescopes to combine and snap Milky Way's supermassive black hole

NASA revealed that the James Webb telescope will collaborate with the Event Horizon Telescope to capture the first image of the Milky Way's black hole.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
NASA
Image: NASA | Image:self
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NASA has already planned a roadmap for the next-generation James Webb Space telescope as it revealed on October 27 that the state-of-the-art observatory will join forces with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to snap the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.

The Event Horizon Telescope is a massive network of radio telescopes that are synchronised to work together for studying black holes. Scientists believe that coupling the EHT with Webb, which is scheduled for launch in December, will allow them to peep into the heart of our galaxy.

James Webb's tight schedule ahead

In its first slate of observations, the Webb telescope will be joining the effort of the EHT, where the astronomers will use infrared imaging power to address some of the unique and persistent challenges presented by the Milky Way’s black hole, named Sagittarius A*. Earlier it was the Hubble telescope that was accompanying the EHT in the hunt for black holes. 

Sharing the above image, NASA explained that the glow at the center of this picture was observed in infrared and it marks the approximate location of the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Captured by Hubble telescope, this image from 2009 is the sharpest one of a galactic center ever produced.

According to the agency, James Webb will combine Hubble’s resolution with even more infrared light detection and will also lend its infrared data for comparison to EHT’s radio data for producing a sharper image of the region.

Astronomer Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, a professor at Northwestern University and principal investigator on the Webb program to observe Sgr A* said, "Our galaxy’s supermassive black hole is the only one known to have this kind of flaring, and while that has made capturing an image of the region very difficult, it also makes Sagittarius A* even more scientifically interesting." 

In the image below, captured by Hubble in near-infrared light in 2009, the agency pointed out the heated gas swirling near the supermassive black hole at the galactic center.

Talking about the awaiting exploration of Milky Way's black hole, Sera Markoff, an astronomer on the Webb Sgr A* research team said, "Black holes are just cool. The reason that scientists and space agencies across the world put so much effort into studying black holes is because they are the most extreme environments in the known universe, where we can put our fundamental theories, like general relativity, to a practical test."

Image: NASA

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Published October 28th, 2021 at 00:36 IST

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