Sagittarius A

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Sagittarius A (or Sgr A) is a complex radio source at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is located in the sky in the Sagittarius constellation.

It consists of three components, the supernova remnant Sagittarius A East, the spiral structure Sagittarius A West, and a very bright compact radio source at the centre of the spiral, Sagittarius A*. These three overlap: Sagittarius A East is the largest, West appears off-center within East, and A* is at the center of West.

Many astronomers believe that there is evidence that there is a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. Sagittarius A* is agreed to be the most plausible candidate for the location of this supermassive black hole.

[edit] External links

• Recent Results of the MPE Infrared/Submillimeter Group
• Galactic Center Research at MPE
• Nature report, with link to the Schödel et al. paper
• The central lightyears: Sagittarius A*
• Sagittarius A East
• Chandra Photo Album Sagittarius A
• The Proper Motion of Sgr A* and the Mass of Sgr A*
• NRAO article regarding VLBI radio imaging of Sgr A*