Scientists have actually discovered an extragalactic star, S0-6, near the Milky Ways main supermassive black hole. The stars unique composition and 10 billion-year journey from a small, now-absorbed galaxy challenge our understanding of the stellar centers star population and development. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
A new study exposes that the star S0-6, situated near the Milky Ways main great void, stemmed from an external galaxy, reshaping our understanding of star migration and formation in our galaxy.
A star near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy came from outside of the Galaxy according to a brand-new study. This is the very first time a star of extragalactic origin has been found in the vicinity of the supermassive black hole.
Origin of Stars near Sagittarius A *.
Many stars are observed near the supermassive great void known as Sagittarius A * at the center of our Galaxy. The black holes extreme gravity makes the surrounding environment too severe for stars to form near the black hole. All the observed stars need to have formed elsewhere and migrated towards the great void. This raises the question, where did the stars form.
Scientists have actually discovered an extragalactic star, S0-6, near the Milky Ways main supermassive black hole. The stars unique composition and 10 billion-year journey from a little, now-absorbed galaxy challenge our understanding of the stellar centers star population and formation. Numerous stars are observed near the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A * at the center of our Galaxy. The black holes intense gravity makes the surrounding environment too severe for stars to form near the black hole. They determined that S0-6 is about 10 billion years old and has a chemical composition similar to stars found in little galaxies outside the Milky Way, such as the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy.
The image shows numerous stars in a field of view about 0.4 light-years throughout. The star S0-6 (blue circle), the topic of this research study, is located about 0.04 light-years from the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A * (Sgr A *, green circle).
Research Study Findings on Star S0-6.
Research study by an international group led by Shogo Nishiyama at Miyagi University of Education indicates the a few of the stars might have come from farther away than previously thought, from totally outside of the Milky Way. The group utilized the Subaru Telescope throughout eight years to observe the star S0-6 situated just 0.04 light-years far from Sagittarius A *. They figured out that S0-6 is about 10 billion years old and has a chemical composition comparable to stars found in little galaxies outside the Milky Way, such as the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy.
S0-6s Galactic Journey.
The most likely theory to explain the structure of S0-6 is that it was born in a now-extinct small galaxy orbiting the Milky Way that was absorbed. This is the first observational proof suggesting that some of the stars in the vicinity of Sagittaius A * formed beyond the Galaxy. Over its 10 billion year life, S0-6 must have travelled more than 50,000 light-years from outside of the Milky Way to reach the area of Sagittarius A *. Practically certainly S0-6 took a trip a lot more than 50,000 light-years, slowly spiraling down to the center rather than making a straight shot.
Unanswered Questions and Future Research.
There are still many concerns according to Nishiyama, “Did S0-6 really stem outside the Milky Way galaxy? Does it have any companions, or did it take a trip alone? With further investigation, we wish to decipher the mysteries of stars near the supermassive black hole.”.
Recommendation: “Origin of an orbiting star around the stellar supermassive black hole” by Shogo Nishiyama, Tomohiro Kara, Brian Thorsbro, Hiromi Saida, Yohsuke Takamori, Masaaki Takahashi, Takayuki Ohgami, Kohei Ichikawa and Rainer Schödel, 1 December 2023, Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B.DOI: 10.2183/ pjab.100.007.
