This new VLT image reveals a gas cloud near our galaxy's black hole

Despite numerous observations and studies carried out by astronomers, the Milky Way remains very mysterious. Several discoveries are made each year, such as this pulsar rotating 122 times per second located at the center of our galaxy. But recently, ESO unveiled a new image taken by the Very Large Telescope showing a new cloud of gas located near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*.

These observations were made using the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS) on the VLT, allowing astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics to detect a new structure named G2t. Located about 27,000 light-years from Earth, this gas cloud is surrounded by two other clouds named G1 and G2.

Based on the results obtained, it appears that these three gas clouds have the same orbit around this black hole. And that's not all, because astronomers also believe that they have the same origin. Indeed, IRS16SW is a pair of massive stars orbiting Sagittarius A*. As they move, they release a significant amount of gas, which formed G1, G2, and G2t. Of course, this image taken by the VLT also shows many other stars. Regarding the supermassive black hole in our galaxy, it is invisible in this image, even though it is located at its center. Therefore, new observations could help astronomers to discover new structures in the Milky Way.