The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has unveiled a stunning image of the supermassive black hole residing at the heart of the Andromeda galaxy. This captivating photo was captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope, a remarkable instrument that concluded NASA’s Great Observatories Program. Launched on August 25, 2003, Spitzer achieved a historic feat by becoming the first telescope to detect light from an exoplanet, a planet outside our solar system. Equipped with a highly sensitive infrared telescope, Spitzer meticulously observed asteroids, comets, planets, and distant galaxies.
The image shared by NASA, a compilation of 11,000 snapshots taken by the now-retired Spitzer telescope, reveals fascinating insights into the nature of the Andromeda galaxy’s central black hole. In an Instagram post, NASA explains that as supermassive black holes ‘consume’ matter, the material heats up just before it falls in, generating incredible light shows—sometimes brighter than an entire galaxy full of stars. However, the black hole at the center of Andromeda, one of our nearest galactic neighbors, is a ‘quiet’ eater. This means that the minimal light it emits does not experience significant fluctuations in brightness. This behavior suggests that the black hole is consuming a small but steady flow of material, rather than large clumps.
NASA’s image of the Andromeda galaxy sparked a wave of reactions among users, ranging from curiosity to humor. One user questioned whether the image was genuine or AI-generated, while another playfully wondered whether consuming the galaxy would be a ‘light’ snack. The image’s beauty and the implications of the black hole’s ‘quiet’ feeding habits elicited a range of comments from users, including expressions of awe and tranquility.
In a separate announcement, NASA reassigned a new crew for its SpaceX Crew-9 mission, set to launch in September 2024. Astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov have been appointed as the commander and mission specialist, respectively, for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The launch is scheduled for September 24, 2024. Previously announced NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson have been reassigned to future missions. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who embarked on their journey into space aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, are scheduled to return to Earth with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025.
