Earth 2,000 light-yrs closer to supermassive black hole than thought: NOAJ

Team Udayavani, Nov 29, 2020, 4:13 PM IST

A new map of the Milky Way puts Earth 2,000 light-years closer to the supermassive black hole at galaxy’s centre, Japan’s NOAJ said.

The map suggests the black hole is located 25,800 light-years from Earth, closer than the official value of 27,700 light-years.

It also indicates that Earth is travelling at 227 kilometres/second as it orbits around the Galactic Center.

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