By In recent years, an immense gas cloud has been spotted in our galaxy, and calculations suggest that the cloud is in a collision course with the black hole situated in the center of the Milky Way. Such a celestial event has never been observer before and therefore, the consequences are unknown at this point.
The gas cloud is expected to be ripped apart and eventually consumed by the black hole during the year 2013. Theories so far suggest that every single galaxy is formed around a huge black hole, but the fact is scientists only know about our own galaxy. The celestial event regarding the consumption of a giant gas cloud has only been theorized so far, this being probably the only chance for scientists to observe how a black hole consumes matter in order to expand.
If the theories prove to be facts, an expansion of the Milky Way’s black hole may have dire consequences and may change the current status of our galaxy. The next two years are certainly to provide invaluable data about the black holes and the effects of a giant collision involving matter and anti-matter.
The gas cloud that contains around three times the mass of our planet has been the subject of scientific research for over 3 years now. Scientists are amazed by the process of such a unique celestial event and how it is attracted in the gravitational whirlpool of the giant black hole. Results so far suggest that the edges of the gas cloud are beginning to fray already.
The cosmic cloud (containing mostly helium and hydrogen gas) is to emit radio waves and X-rays by 2013, when to full assimilation takes place. Since 1992 (when the observation of the black hole began), scientists only reported two stars being as close as the giant gas cloud at hand. The difference is that the stars went by unaffected whatsoever by the tidal force of the black hole; whereas the gas cloud is due to suffer complete consumption.
The trajectory of the cloud, with a velocity of about 2350 kilometers per second, will result in it being completely disrupted once it reaches the even horizon of the black hole, resulting in extreme X-ray emissions that can be studied from the Earth.