Zoom in to view the black hole at the Milky Way centre in a new light

This zoom video takes you to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy, seen now for the first time in polarised light. The video begins at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope in which ESO is a partner and that is part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). As we zoom into the heart of our galaxy, we switch from visible to infrared light to peer through the dense clouds of dust in this region. We see some stars orbiting very close to Sgr A*, observed with ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer. Finally, we arrive at Sgr A*. The first image of this black hole was released in 2022. The swirling lines overlaid in this new image mark the orientation of polarisation, which is linked to the shape of the magnetic field around the black hole.

The various observations used here were taken at different times, by different teams and with different facilities, and put together for the purpose of the zoom effect. The images go from visible wavelengths at the beginning to infrared, with the very final image being taken at radio wavelengths.

For more details, check the corresponding release.