Gas cloud hurtling towards Milky Way's "black hole" may harbor young star??

I can find only bits and pieces about this exciting news. The gas cloud termed "G2" is making it's way toward the galactic center.

What does this all mean?

What EXACTLY is G2?

(artist impression ~ESO/MPE/M.SCHARTMANN)

From a paper written/drafted in March of this year, written by Astrophysicist's Nick Scoville and Andi Burkett, we can read the following:

The recently discovered G2 cloud which is infalling toward SgrA∗ is a most intriguing astronomical discovery (Gillessen et al. 2012) – both its origin and nature are unclear as yet

I have read from different papers, different things. One paper I read spoke about the cloud being detected in the late 90's. Either way, they have been following this cloud (??) for a few years, at the least.

The paper goes on to say..

At this point it is unclear if the cloud will survive pericenter passage and whether the activity of SgrA∗will increase and over what timescale

Some say it may harbor a young star or a want to be planet/planet in the making.

Here we explore a different scenario – G2 being a young low mass TTauri star, formed in the young stellar ring and subsequently injected into the eccentric orbit. Many TTauri stars have mass-loss winds at 200 - 500 km s−1with M˙ ∼ 1 − 5 × 10−8M⊙ yr−1 during their first million years. arxiv.org...

Some researchers suggest the "recently-spotted" gas cloud is a planet-forming disk of matter.

Modelling work by Ruth Murray-Clay and Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, suggests that planets can form within the powerful gravitational field of a giant black hole. And it heightens expectations about what astronomers might learn as the cloud nears the galaxy’s biggest black hole — an event expected to cause a spectacular light show that could begin as early as next year. The model is published today in Nature Communications1

What about it's orbit?

Seems there is an "Orbit problem".

Orbit problem The simulated gas cloud matches key features of the observed cloud, Murray-Clay and Loeb report. However, they calculate that there is only a 0.1% chance that a recently dislodged star would have the same orbit as the gas cloud. This small percentage “is the main theoretical problem” with the model, says Stefan Gillessen at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physicsin Garching, Germany, a member of the team behind the cloud's discovery. The duo's model predicts that the gas cloud should have a dense core, which would be revealed by an increase in brightness as the cloud ventures closer to the black hole, Loeb notes. If the model is confirmed, it would suggest that young, low-mass stars that remained in the ring have disks stable enough to forge planets. Regardless of the cloud’s origin, it could take decades for the whole of it to plunge into the black hole. Material could start falling onto a swirling accretion disk surrounding the black hole by the end of 2013 and continue for 20–40 years, says astronomer Andreas Burkert of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, another member of the cloud-discovery team. And infalling gas must still make its way from the accretion disk to the black hole itself before most of the fireworks begin, he says.

www.nature.com...

Of course, I have questions... many, "what if's" begin to take hold and the pondering begins.

What if there is more than one star and or planet accompanying/orbiting this dust? As far as I have researched it, current data does not exclude these possibilities.

Now... I am NOT WORRIED or freaking out... but I do question even more certain possibilities and or scenarios.

What if it excites the core so much the energy coming from it would be so great it would endanger life as we know it... somehow...someway.... sometime? Is that even possible? What about a gravity wave? Any kind of wave and or energy?

Gamma Ray bursts and or major cosmic rays coming from such a system could ( I think) reach us within months... but I am not sure about that. This is why I want it up for discussion here on ATS.

We do not have evidence of a "black hole" per say (could be a huge star for all I know) and we have never witnessed anything at our core such as this (have we?). Either way.. black holes are said to graze and not gobble so the likely hood of this system or cloud will be ripped apart.

“So far there were only two stars that came that close to Sagittarius A*,” Gillessen said. “They passed unharmed, but this time will be different: the gas cloud will be completely ripped apart by the tidal forces of the black hole.” Read more: www.universetoday.com...

Also, on May14th a Magnetar was witnessed by Astronomer Dale Frail. Because of all the excitement in regards to G2 he caught a massive flare coming from the Galactic center.

The magnetar’s accidental discovery is a by-product of astronomers’ excitement about the arrival of the gas cloud, dubbed G2. The cloud, which is about three times the mass of Earth, was first spotted near Sgr A* in 2012 (and was later found in 2002 data). Its arrival would deliver insight into how objects accrete into the swirling disk of material around a black hole, as well as offering the first chance for astronomers to measure the time that it takes for objects to be captured and swallowed up. Every flicker of emissions from Sgr A* sparks a flurry of speculation, intensifying the usual cycle of observation and coordinated follow-up that characterizes high-energy astronomy. Many telescope directors are scheduling additional monitoring of the Galactic Centre. The VLA, for example, is already scanning radio frequencies around Sgr A* every two months, and will do so every month once G2 arrives.

www.nature.com...
Could G2 be pushing objects as it makes its way? Is that possible?

Thank you for allowing me to bring this information to discuss and also for taking the time to read.

"...Gamma Ray bursts and or major cosmic rays coming from such a system could ( I think) reach us within months... but I am not sure about that. This is why I want it up for discussion here on ATS."

The galactic center is 50,000 light years away so technically takes that long fro a GRB to arrive. Now how long between the time we see the flash for the first tome and the GR's getting here isn't well known but it could be days or weeks.

The good news is that there is an astronomically low chance this particular threat will manifest. The GRB is thought to be a narrow jet and God himself would have to be aiming that gun to make the shot from 50,000 light years.

The solar kill shot scenario or asteroid impact is much more likely. In fact, you getting killed in an auto accident tomorrow is probably a billion times more likely.

reply to post by MamaJ


SnF interesting find MamaJ. There was a thread the other day here asking can celestial objects be carried or in orbit outside of STAR systems. Seems so



reply to post by jiggerj


My first question is this:

All of the planets in our solar system orbit around the sun. Are there other systems out there where planets orbit a body that ISN'T a sun? I'm not talking about moons orbiting planets. I'm just curious to see if the center body of a system has to be a sun in order to prove it has more mass - mass that created so much pressure that it became a great ball of fire.


www.abovetopsecret.com...

LOVE LIGHT ETERNIA*******

reply to post by MamaJ


Cool thread. Haven't seen a good one of this type in a while.

Another possibility, based on the theory that Super-massive Black Holes go through periods of relative inactivity and periods of greater activity, is that the gas cloud could trigger or kick-start an active phase.
It would appear that our galactic center has been in a dormant stage. When active it would consume greater amounts of matter while also kicking out large bursts of energy and matter.

The Black Hole in the center of the Milky Way is hard to see because it is shrouded in a large cloud of dust. Hopefully the triggering of an active period would make observing our black hole easier.

Whatever happens it should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Originally posted by InverseLookingGlass
"...Gamma Ray bursts and or major cosmic rays coming from such a system could ( I think) reach us within months... but I am not sure about that. This is why I want it up for discussion here on ATS."

The galactic center is 50,000 light years away so technically takes that long fro a GRB to arrive. Now how long between the time we see the flash for the first tome and the GR's getting here isn't well known but it could be days or weeks.

The good news is that there is an astronomically low chance this particular threat will manifest. The GRB is thought to be a narrow jet and God himself would have to be aiming that gun to make the shot from 50,000 light years.

The solar kill shot scenario or asteroid impact is much more likely. In fact, you getting killed in an auto accident tomorrow is probably a billion times more likely.

edit on 10-6-2013 by InverseLookingGlass because: bad spelling

The center is actually 27000 light years away and yeah I can imagine our chances of getting harmed via G2 is extremely slim. Again, I am just pondering the questions and answers.

Could a kill shot not happen with our Sun as the energies around become more and more excited from say, this G2 cloud and or bodies?

Great thread and information MamaJ, thanks for creating it. S&F

There are a couple of things that should help you sleep easier:

1) We are far enough away from the core of the Milky Way that any Short GRB created by a black hole gobbling up a star or other mater would not hurt us.

2) The GRB would have to be pointed directly at us.

Anything happening at the core of our galaxy is not really too much for us to worry about, except if there were two massive black holes.........and they collided.

That would be bad.

However, all studies done so far on the core of our galaxy indicates that there is only one massive black hole there.

This is a very exciting thing to be observing however. We are going to get to see what happens as it get's closer. As the article stated, it's going to take decades. However this is a unique chance to see something like this in action.

I wouldn't worry about anything bad happening to us because of this though. We are just too far away from it.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


Thank you for the link to the other thread.. will check it out.

I understand there is so much we know. Either way, Einsteins theory of relativity should test out pretty well.

reply to post by eriktheawful


Thank you for your input, I always value your opinion. And.. not to worry, I am not worried.

However, all studies done so far on the core of our galaxy indicates that there is only one massive black hole there.

I am not familiar with those studies. Also, I have also read that as the cloud makes it way we will be able to see/detect more black holes from small to intermediate. It could interact with any of them before it gets to the nucleus, I guess.?

They are making a big deal of it.. watch... we won't even be able to detect any light from it.

reply to post by MamaJ


Anytime my friend.. Be well

reply to post by watchitburn


Yes, it will be interesting to read and watch it all unfold. Also, thank you for the compliment.

I'm now wondering what an active stage is like. I do remember reading at some point in time that our nucleus has been quiet, kind of like our Sun.

How long has it been in a sort of dormant stage, do you know?

Could the black hole simply swallow the cloud without any emisions what so ever? My prediction is the cloud will simply disapear.

reply to post by symptomoftheuniverse


I think, if I am not mistaken the answer is no. (I will be corrected if wrong though lol )

The way the core behaves is not at all what you may think.

It emanates massive amounts of energy. It takes in and it gives. Kind of like our Sun.

The nucleus may rip this system (if that is what it is) apart and it may cause it to become active with lots and lots of energy.

Originally posted by MamaJ
reply to post by eriktheawful

 

Thank you for your input, I always value your opinion. And.. not to worry, I am not worried.

However, all studies done so far on the core of our galaxy indicates that there is only one massive black hole there.

I am not familiar with those studies. Also, I have also read that as the cloud makes it way we will be able to see/detect more black holes from small to intermediate. It could interact with any of them before it gets to the nucleus, I guess.?

They are making a big deal of it.. watch... we won't even be able to detect any light from it.

Here you go:

Sagittarius A* Central Black Hole

Astronomers are confident that these observations of Sagittarius A* provide good empirical evidence that our own Milky Way galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center, 26,000 light-years from the Solar System[6] because:

The star S2 follows an elliptical orbit with a period of 15.2 years and a pericenter (closest distance) of 17 light hours (1.8×1013 m) from the center of the central object.[16]

From the motion of star S2, the object's mass can be estimated as 4.1 million solar masses.[3] (The corresponding Schwarzschild radius is 0.08 AU; 17 times bigger than Sun.)

The radius of the central object must be significantly less than 17 light hours, because otherwise, S2 would collide with it. In fact, recent observations[17] indicate that the radius is no more than 6.25 light-hours, about the diameter of Uranus' orbit, leading to density limit 8.55×1036 kg / 1.288×1039 m3 = 0.0066 kg/m3.

The only widely hypothesized type of object which can contain 4.1 million solar masses in a volume that small is a black hole.

And here's a bit of info on Super Massive Black Holes thought to be in the center of other galaxies:

Super Massive Black Holes

reply to post by eriktheawful


Thank you for that information. I hate that I am not convinced, but I can't make myself be. lol

That is definitely another subject for a different thread though and I would love to pick your brain more on black holes. The center of our galaxy being 25-27000 light years away makes me question what we "know" about said nucleus. We are not able to see every galaxy having one. We are not certain that is what it is. Soon though we will have a better understanding that is for certain!

Let's say this G2 cloud comes with a "black hole". It sounds crazy to even postulate....? Read here and know why I even ask. "Astronomers discover massive black hole careening away from its home galaxy"
io9.com...

So how cool would it be if the black hole 'swallows' the cloud...and it appears on the opposite side of the universe???

reply to post by westcoast


NOW that would be awesome news and give us sooo much to talk about! hahaha

Ahhhh.... the "what if's". Love it!

I have another question...

WHAT IF this cloud is filled with Antimatter? en.wikipedia.org...

Recent observations by the European Space Agency's INTEGRAL satellite may explain the origin of a giant cloud of antimatter surrounding the galactic center. The observations show that the cloud is asymmetrical and matches the pattern of X-ray binaries (binary star systems containing black holes or neutron stars), mostly on one side of the galactic center. While the mechanism is not fully understood, it is likely to involve the production of electron–positron pairs, as ordinary matter gains tremendous energy while falling into a stellar remnant.[10][11] Antimatter may exist in relatively large amounts in far-away galaxies due to cosmic inflation in the primordial time of the universe. Antimatter galaxies, if they exist, are expected to have the same chemistry and absorption and emission spectra as normal-matter galaxies, and their astronomical objects would be observationally identical, making them difficult to distinguish.[12] NASA is trying to determine if such galaxies exist by looking for X-ray and gamma-ray signatures of annihilation events in colliding superclusters

This article below is amazing info...

space.about.com...

If there turns out to be a huge GRB then we will not doubt see the light show especially if it is Earth directed.