Astronomers presently switched on a device that lets them study the Milky Way's black-hole

Astronomers operational with the European Space Agency's (ESO) Very great Telescope (VLT) in Chile have presently announced that a black hole-observing machine called GRAVITY is now completely ready on all four of the VLT’s 8.2 metre (26.9 foot) Unit Telescopes - and it's has already provide one accurate measurement.

This is huge information, because the power boost offered by GRAVITY will allow astronomers to watch the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way - a goal they've been operational towards since its location was predictable back in 2002.
So how does it work? Basically, the device has the authority to combine the strength of all four of the lesser Unit Telescopes that make up the VLT. "By combine light from the four telescopes, it can achieve the same spatial decree and precision in measuring position as a telescope of up to 130 metres in diameter," the team reports.
With all of this extra authority, astronomers are able to precisely measure extremely far-away objects that additional telescopes cannot pick up. This includes verdict and observing exoplanets, stars, and - most awesomely - black holes.
So far, GRAVITY has enable scientists to examine a star called S2, which is orbit Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) - the hypothesised black hole at the centre of our galaxy. With the capacity they have by now taken, they will hopefully discover out if the star’s motion follows or deviates from those predict by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, most important them one step closer to examining the Sgr A* itself.
"These observations are very difficult because Sgr A* is far away and hidden by all the gas and dust there is between Earth and the centre of the Milky Way," ESO gadget fellow Xavier Haubois explains. "Observing Sgr A* will allow us to appreciate the property of black holes located at the centres of galaxies and how they affect the gas and the configuration and development of stars orbiting close to it."
This means it in fact allows the astronomers to on the whole treat the area around Sgr A* - a location that is concerning 26,000 light-years away - as a physics laboratory. Needless to say, the team is super keyed up.
"It was a fantastic instant for the whole team when the light from the star interfere for the first time - after eight years of hard work," said guide scientist Frank Eisenhauer from the Max Planck organization for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany. "First, we actively stabilised the meddling on a bright near star, and then only a few minutes afterward, we could really see the prying from the faint star - to a lot of high-fives."
The GRAVITY team isn’t the only collection working on observing black holes - earlier this month, a team from MIT and Harvard urbanized an algorithm that might help them snag an real picture of one of the cosmic juggernauts, which is great information because as of right now, every black hole image you’ve ever seen has been fake.
Hopefully, as telescopes crossways the world continue to upgrade, we'll lastly unlock some of the mystery of the Universe (and get some wonderful cool pictures in the process).