Scientists unveiled the discovery of the first binary star system near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The binary system, named D9, consists of twin stars that are approximately 2.7 million years old. The finding was announced in a study published in Nature Communications, as reported by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
"We are actually in a really lucky situation. We observed the system just in time," said Florian Peissker, a researcher at the University of Cologne and lead author of the study, according to The Independent.
The twin stars in the D9 system are separated by 238 million kilometers and orbit each other every 372 days. Due to the intense gravitational force of Sagittarius A*, astronomers estimate that the stars could eventually merge into one within just one million years.
It was previously thought that the gravitational forces around a black hole were too extreme for such a star system to survive. This observation confirms a hypothesis made nearly a century ago. "Black holes are not as destructive as we thought," Peissker stated, according to Forbes.
The binary star system D9 was identified using 15 years of data collected by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory, specifically with the Eris and SINFONI instruments, as reported by ABC News. The VLT is one of the world's most advanced optical telescopes, allowing astronomers to observe cosmic phenomena with unprecedented clarity.
Over 5,000 planets have been found orbiting various stars across the Milky Way galaxy, but none have been detected near its center, Forbes reported. The detection of D9 opens up new possibilities for understanding stellar evolution in such extreme environments and may pave the way for the discovery of planets in this region.
"It seems plausible that the detection of planets in the Galactic center is just a matter of time," Peissker told Forbes.
The binary star system's discovery also has implications for the study of the S-cluster, a group of high-velocity stars and other dusty objects that orbit Sagittarius A*. This cluster is described as a "highly dynamical system" where stars interact with each other as they come within each other's gravitational pull, according to ABC News.
Scientists hypothesize that binary star systems like D9 can exist only briefly in the context of cosmic time when situated close to supermassive black holes.
The presence of binary stars near Sagittarius A* suggests that planets may also be forming or existing in these extreme conditions.
Researchers hope that with upcoming equipment upgrades, including enhancements to the Very Large Telescope and the future Extremely Large Telescope, it might be possible to observe planets around Sagittarius A*. "We calculated that it could be tomorrow, next week, or maybe in a million years—which, from an astrophysical point of view, is really soon," Peissker said, as reported by ABC News.
Sagittarius A*, located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, is approximately four million times more massive than the Sun.
The implications of this discovery extend beyond our galaxy. Peissker noted that understanding how stars evolve near supermassive black holes in the Milky Way could help scientists comprehend similar processes in other galaxies.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq