Astronomers Have Some New Theories About the Source of a Mystery Object Inside the Milky Way's Black Hole

Astronomers initially discovered an object orbiting the black hole at the center of the Milky Way in 2011. At the time, they thought it was nothing more than a gas cloud that would disappear over time. Four years later, it's still there.

According to the Huffington Post, scientists are offering new theories on what the object — referred to as G2 — could be, one of which goes back to a similar object they spotted one decade ago, dubbed G1.

"As a complete surprise came the discovery that the orbit of G2 matches that of another gas cloud detected a decade ago, suggesting that G2 might actually be part of a much more extensive gas streamer," the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics said in a statement. "This would also match some of the proposed scenarios that try to explain the presence of G2. One such model is that G2 is originating from the wind from a massive star."

Scientists have new theories about a mystery object inside Sagittarius A, the Milky Way's massive black hole. (Image source: Smithsonian)

One plausible source of G1 and G2 could be clumps in the wind of one of the massive disk stars, which could have been ejected some 100 years ago close to the apocentre of G2's orbit, the institute theorized. Others believe the object is actually a binary star system, EarthSky.org reported.

According to Space.com, G1 can be seen in data sets from as far back as 2004, while G2 has been talked about for more than a year now. For now, the mystery as to what exactly it is and how it got there remains. Those who presented their cases earned a spot for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, the Huffington Post reported.

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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