Sagittarius A*

Stars like S2 whip around an invisible point, which proved a supermassive black hole sits at our galaxy's centre (Nobel Prize 2020: Genzel, Ghez). The Event Horizon Telescope imaged its shadow in 2022 and its magnetic fields in polarised light in 2024. GRAVITY saw S2's orbit precess exactly as general relativity predicts.

Artistic simulation. The lensed disk is ray-marched with a simplified Schwarzschild-style light bending, inspired by the Interstellar work of James et al. (2015); the real Sgr A* is dim and seen more face-on. S-star orbits use the published elements, drawn at a schematic scale. (Your device is showing the lightweight version.)

Sources

1. EHT Collab. 2022, First Sgr A* results I, ApJL 930 L12
2. EHT Collab. 2024, Sgr A* polarization, ApJL 964 L25
3. Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 (Genzel, Ghez, Penrose)
4. GRAVITY Collab. 2020, S2 Schwarzschild precession, A&A 636 L5
5. GRAVITY Collab. 2022, Sgr A* mass 4.30 million suns, A&A 657 L12
6. Gillessen et al. 2017, S-star orbits, ApJ 837:30
7. James, von Tunzelmann, Franklin & Thorne 2015, Gravitational lensing by spinning black holes (Interstellar), CQG 32 065001

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