Chandra Release - February 8, 2024

Visual Description: Sagittarius A*


This artist's illustration shows a cross-section of Sagittarius A*, pronounced as "SAJ-ee-TARE-ee-us A-star", the supermassive black hole near the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

In the middle of the image, the spinning, circular black hole is presented from the side in black. The swirling gas that surrounds Sagittarius A* is presented in white and yellow on either side of the black hole, within a rectangular-shaped dotted line, indicating the representation is a cross-section view. The shape of the spacetime surrounding Sgr A*, seen as the inner edge of the white and yellow gas on either side of the black hole, has been squashed down. The spacetime around Sgr A* thus resembles the shape of an American football.

The background of the image contains a multitude of faint stars, peeking out from within brooding, dark red, indistinct clouds.