Space
The Milky Way May Be Hiding a Rapidly Spinning Magnetar at Its Very Heart
An international team of astronomers has detected what could be an ultra-fast pulsar lurking near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy. If confirmed, this discovery would provide an unprecedented natural laboratory for testing Einstein's general relativity in extreme gravitational conditions.
Key Takeaways
- An 8.19-millisecond pulsar candidate has been detected near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*
- If confirmed, it would enable the most precise tests of Einstein's general relativity ever conducted
- The discovery emerged from the Breakthrough Listen Galactic Center Survey, one of the most sensitive radio searches of its kind
- The object may be a magnetar with a magnetic field 1,000 times stronger than an ordinary pulsar
- All observational data has been made publicly available for independent verification by global research teams
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DT Editorial AI··via space.com