Shocking! A supermassive Black Hole lurking within our Galaxy, says NASA

Black holes are some of the most mysterious things in the universe. While scientists have been looking into far space, NASA says that a supermassive black hole could be lurking within our Milky Way galaxy itself. Know more about black holes here.

NASA believes that there might be a supermassive black hole which is hiding in plain sight within our galaxy. What are these black holes and how could they exist so close to us without us ever knowing. Find out. (NASA)

Ever since they were first surmised, black holes have remained an insurmountable challenge for scientists. Scientists have been trying to study it but since they are so hard to find, locating them in itself is a big challenge. And to make matters worse, the confirmed location of black holes that scientists have been able to identify so far are all located far away, making observing and studying them difficult. But NASA believes we do not need to go that far to learn more about black holes. A supermassive black hole exists within our Milky Way galaxy. And with this confirmation, astronomers are now aiming to uncover more secrets about this elusive celestial body. While we do not know much about the black holes, there are some things we do know about them. Read on to find out.

Earlier this month, NASA revealed that a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*, with the mass of four million Suns, was found within our own galaxy. A black hole's presence is a rare phenomena as it is, but to find the rarest of them all — a supermassive black hole — has made scientists rethink everything they know about these super gravity zones. As scientists now undergo new studies to better understand them, let us take a look at everything we know about these celestial bodies.

What is a black hole

In 1783, the idea that a black hole is a zone in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape from it, was first given by John Michell. Today, we know black holes as a compact ball of matter in an extremely condensed state that exerts such a high gravitational pull that not even light can come out of it.

Why do black holes have strong gravity

The law of gravitation tells us that the larger the mass the higher the gravitational pull. That is why the Moon is pulled by the Earth and the Earth is pulled by the Sun. Black holes contain the mass, equivalent to hundreds of Suns in a space not larger than a few kilometers. This condensed mass is what results in an unbelievably strong gravitational force.

Different types of black holes

There are two types of black holes that we know of so far, according to NASA. One is called the stellar-mass black hole. It forms when a large star (much bigger than the Sun) burns up all its fuel and causes a supernova explosion. After the explosion, the star collapses within itself, creating the black hole.

The other one is known as the supermassive black hole. It contains significantly more matter than the stellar-mass black hole and can contain as much matter as 1-100 million Suns! It was believed that this type of black holes is more rare due to the amount of matter required to create them, but lately it is being proven wrong after astronomers were able to find a supermassive blackhole in our very own Milky Way.