Can we detect an accretion disk around the Milky Way's supermassive black hole in the core of the Milky Way?
1 Answer
Mar 2, 2016
We could detect an accretion disc around the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole but there isn't one now.
Explanation:
If there was an accretion disc around the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole it would emit massive amounts of radiation. The supermassive black hole has consumed most of the material in its vicinity.
There are however clouds of material which have been observed close to the black hole. If any of them should get close enough to become an accretion disc falling into the black hole there will be a huge amount of energy emitted due to friction and gravitational tidal effects.
