Chandra Release - September 23, 2015

Visual Description: Sagittarius A*

 A Chandra X-ray Observatory image around the Sagittarius A* supermassive black hole, located in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, is shown. The image is dominated by vibrant red and blue hues, with a large amount of celestial objects visible. At the center of the image, there is a bright, lumpy object showing the intense X-ray radiation emanating from the Sgr A* black hole. In the surrounding area, there are a couple smaller lumps layered throughout the image, feathering out to a large almost butterfly shape filling much of the screen. The image appears textured, like dozens of blue and orange glow worms are paused in their wriggling.  Above the image, an artist's illustration is shown in 2 panels.  Both show a black hole surrounded by a dim multicolored disk of material and a bright arc of light on the right.  In the first panel an object is shown passing close to the black hole.  In the second panel, the black hole disk is lit up with the remaining material of the object arcing past it.   The artist's illustrations represent a possible explanation for a recent increase in X-ray flares from Sgr A* seen by three telescopes including Chandra. As part of a long monitoring campaign, astronomers observed Sgr A* as a mysterious object called G2 appeared to pass close to the Milky Way's supermassive black hole. The timing of G2's passage could suggest that material from G2 caused the surge in X-ray activity, but it is also possible that this unrelated behavior of Sgr A*.