Astronomers Are About to Make a Massive Announcement About Something in The Milky Way

In two weeks' time, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is going to present the world with new information about our Milky Way.

It's anyone's guess what the announcement will be, but based on what we know of their recent efforts, there's reason to get excited – the results being presented are from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, which was responsible for producing the first-ever image of a black hole in 2019.

For years now the EHT project has been studying the heart of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, which is most likely home to a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*.

Since the scientists are hosting simultaneous press conferences around the globe, it's a good chance what they are keeping under wraps is the next instalment after the historic 2019 moment of the first black hole reveal.

A conference will be streamed about the findings online on 12 May 2022 at 15:00 CEST (13:00 UTC, 9:00 EST), followed by a YouTube event with six astronomers from around the world. Press releases will include "extensive supporting audiovisual material" (eek!).

If astronomers have managed to produce a direct image of Sgr A*'s event horizon, it will be a historic moment you don't want to miss.

Black holes are extremely difficult to image because they are quite literally invisible, absorbing all electromagnetic radiation. All that we can hope to see is the event horizon; essentially, the black hole's outline, which represents where light can no longer escape the black hole's gravitational forces.

But Sgr A* is obscured by a cloud of dust and gas, which makes it particularly difficult to study.

If astronomers have imaged the black hole's horizon, it should appear as a glowing donut. This is the black hole's accretion disc, a ring of gas and dust that gives off extreme radiation as it falls into the abyss.

Glowing orange ring on a black background, with a fog of red surrounding it (EHT Collaboration)

ESO's press release is promising something "groundbreaking", which is the same wording they used before announcing the first direct image of a black hole in 2019.

This black hole was at the center of the galaxy M87, and it has a mass 6.5 billion times that of our Sun. Its event horizon has a radius of roughly 20 billion kilometers, and it's really far away.

Experts compare taking a direct image of it to observing an object 1 millimeter in size from a distance of 13,000 kilometers away (8,000 miles).

Sgr A* is much closer to us, being at the heart of our own galaxy. However, it is rather small for a supermassive black hole, only 4.3 million times bigger than the Sun. It's only detectable because it's relatively much closer to Earth than M87*.

So if astronomers have finally captured an image of its event horizon, it certainly would be groundbreaking.

We can't wait to see what the ESO is about to show us: watch this space. You can find more details about the announcement here.

Isaiah 34
New International Version

Judgment Against the Nations

Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[a] them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
the people I have totally destroyed.
6 The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.
Their land will be drenched with blood,
and the dust will be soaked with fat.

8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate;
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[b] and screech owl[c] will possess it;
the great owl[d] and the raven will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom
the measuring line of chaos
and the plumb line of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes will vanish away.
13 Thorns will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
a home for owls.
14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas,
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;
there also the falcons will gather,
each with its mate.

16 Look in the scroll of the Lord and read:

None of these will be missing,
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth that has given the order,
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.

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