Earth faster, closer to Milky Way black hole, than previously thought
Paul Scott Anderson in SPACE | December 5, 2020
A new survey of our galaxy by astronomers with VERA in Japan has shown that Earth is both moving faster and is closer to the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy than previously thought. But don’t worry, our planet is safe!
Paul Scott Anderson in SPACE | December 5, 2020
A new survey of our galaxy by astronomers with VERA in Japan has shown that Earth is both moving faster and is closer to the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy than previously thought. But don’t worry, our planet is safe!
A new survey of the Milky Way from Japan suggests our Earth and solar system are both moving faster and residing closer to our Milky Way galaxy’s central, supermassive black hole than astronomers had realized. Image via NAOJ. |
Is Earth heading toward our Milky Way galaxy’s central supermassive black hole? Rest assured, the answer is no. However, new observations the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan – highlighted in the first VERA Astrometry Catalog – suggest our planet is located about 2,000 light-years closer to the Milky Way’s central black hole than previously thought. And – just as in our solar system, where planets closer to the sun move faster than those further out – our Earth and sun are now seen as moving about 4 miles per second (7 km/second) faster than we knew.
The new work suggests our solar system is located 25,800 light-years from Sagittarius A* (abbreviated Sag A* and pronounced Sag A-Star), the region of our Milky Way’s central black hole. An earlier value of 27,700 light-years was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1985.
These new estimates are the result of an improved model of the Milky Way, based on recent observations.
The peer-reviewed paper containing these and other results was published in the August 2020 issue of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan.