Earth is 2,000 light-years closer to the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole than previously thought

A new map of the Milky Way created by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan shows that Earth is spiraling faster and is 2,000 light-years closer to the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy than previously thought.

In 1985, the International Astronomical Union announced that Earth was 27,700 light years away from the black hole, called Sagittarius A *. But a 15-year analysis through Japan’s VERA radio astronomy project found that Earth is actually just 25,800 light-years away. They also found that the Earth is moving 7km / s faster than they previously believed.

Sagittarius A * and similar black holes are nicknamed “supermassive” for one reason: they are. billions of times more massive Of sun.

But the NAOJ said there is no reason to worry, as the latest data does not indicate the planet is “plunging into the black hole.” It just means that there is now a “better model of the Milky Way galaxy”.

Using the VERA Astrometry Catalog, the scientists created a position and velocity map that outlines the center of the Milky Way galaxy and the objects residing within it. The first VERA Astrometry Catalog was released this year and includes data for 99 objects.

The positioning indicates that the Earth orbits the Galactic Center, where the black hole is located, at 227 km / s. Astronomers initially thought that the orbit was at a speed of 220 km / s.

“Since Earth is inside the Milky Way, we can’t step back and see what the Galaxy looks like from the outside,” NAOJ said in a news release. “Astrometry, accurate measurement of the positions and movements of objects, is a fundamental tool for understanding the overall structure of the galaxy and our place in it.”

VERA, Very Long Baseline Interferometry Exploration of Radio Astrometry, was created in 2000 and uses interferometry to aggregate data from radio telescopes located throughout Japan. Through the project, scientists can create the same resolution as a 2,300km-diameter telescope, which “is sharp enough in theory to resolve a US penny placed on the surface of the moon,” NAOJ said.

NAOJ scientists hope to collect data on even more objects, focusing on those that are close to Sagittarius A *.