PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected evidence of a powerful light echo outburst from the giant black hole at the Milky Way's center.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists say light echoes are produced when X-ray light generated by gas falling into the supermassive black hole is reflected by gas clouds. While the primary X-rays from the outburst would have reached Earth about 50 years ago, the reflected X-rays took a longer path and arrived in time to be recorded by Chandra last year.
"This dramatic event happened before we had satellites in space that could detect it," said Michael Muno of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "So, it's remarkable that we can use Chandra to dig into the past and see this monster black hole's capacity for destruction."
The study will appear in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
