Artist's animation of star pair D9 orbiting the supermassive black hole Sgr A*

The animation shows D9, the first ever star pair discovered near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. We zoom in and out on the black hole and the single stars orbiting it, to then get close to D9, the first ever binary star system found in its vicinity. The video, which was made by an artist at the Brno Observatory and Planetarium, shows how the star system orbits the black hole. It also reveals the dusty gas cloud in which the star pair is enveloped, which suggests it is a young star system. The formation and survival of a binary star system in this extreme environment means that black holes are not as destructive as we thought.

This animation was made possible thanks to a Czech Science Foundation Junior Star grant (GM24-10599M).

For more details, check: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2418/