Astronomers believe that there is a massive black hole at the center of the Milk

Question

Astronomers believe that there is a massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. What evidence is there for that? A group of astronomers have observed a star 'S2' in a 15.2-year orbit around the center of the galaxy. They measured the period of revolution T = 15.2 years, the eccentricity of the elliptical orbit epsilon = 0.87, and the semimajor axis of the orbit a = 4.62 mpc. [The unit: mpc = milli-parsec = 0.001 parsec.] Calculate the mass of the compact object about which S2 is revolving. Tries 0/25

Explanation / Answer

T=2(a3/GM)

a=4.62mpc = 4.62*10-3*3.09*1016 = 1.43*1014

15.2*365*24*60*60 = 2(1.43*1014)3/6.67*10-11M

=7.733*1034

~4*104 times the mass of sun

size of solar system=4.5*109 [distance of neptune from sun]

so the radius of S2 is ~ 30000 times more than size of solar system

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