A huge gas bubble is swirling around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole at almost a third of the speed of light, reveals a new study. As big as the planet Mercury, it completes a full circle in just 70 minutes – over 200 million miles an hour.
Astronomers say the mysterious region at the heart of our galaxy is about ten billion times bigger than the sun.
Lead author Dr. Maciek Wielgus, of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, said: “We think we’re looking at a hot bubble of gas zipping around Sagittarius A* on an orbit similar in size to that of the planet Mercury – but making a full loop in just around 70 minutes.”
