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The complex astronomical radio source Sagittarius A appears to be located almost exactly at the Galactic Center and contains an intense compact radio source, Sagittarius A*, which coincides with a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
In order for massive stars to move along the observed orbits and at the speeds they move at, astronomers believe that the center of our galaxy is home to a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*.
The closest star to our Sun is about four light-years away. In the center of the galaxy, stars are only 0.4 to 0.04 light-years apart. In the inner 10,000 light-year region of the Milky Way, the galaxy’s spiral arm structure transitions into a dense, spherical “bulge” of stars.
Today, everyone knows that the Sagittarius A* object is at the center of our Galaxy. It is a supermassive black hole surrounded by an accretion disk. But what is located around it and how is it all connected to the rest of the Milky Way?
In 1971, two astrophysicists at the University of Cambridge hypothesized that the center of the Milky Way contains a black hole. An astronomical radio source was discovered at the galactic center, about 26,000 light years away from our solar system.
The Galactic centre is the point about which our Galaxy is rotating. It is located roughly 24,000 light years from the Solar System in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, but cannot be seen in optical light due to heavy obscuration by interstellar dust grains along the line of sight.
At the center of the Milky Way galaxy is a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* (pronounced "Sagittarius A-star"). This black hole has a mass about 4 million times that of our Sun! It's surrounded by a dense cluster of stars and other cosmic material.
In addition to its iconic spiral shape, the Milky Way is surrounded by a halo of older stars and globular clusters—tight, spherical collections of stars. At its center lies a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A *, a key player in the galaxy’s gravitational dynamics.
The Milky Way galaxy center is located 26,000 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. A supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* marks the Milky Way galaxy center, with a mass of approximately 4 million times that of the sun.
Our Galaxy’s center falls within the constellation of Sagittarius, which can best be seen at night during the month of August. It is about 27,000 light years away from us, which places us about halfway out in the Milky Way’s disk.