Scientists captured detailed images of the dust cloud using an astronomical interferometer at the European Southern Laboratory’s Largest Telescope (ESO’s VLTI) in Chile.

The location of the black hole inside this dust cloud has been a mystery for decades, but the team used detailed images from the lab to measure the temperature at various points in the cloud and create a map to determine where the black hole should be.

Their findings confirm predictions made almost 30 years ago and provide astronomers with new insights into some of the brightest and most mysterious objects in the universe, the “active galaxies”.

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are very powerful sources powered by very large black holes and found in the center of some galaxies. The cloud around the black hole feeds it, emitting more intense light than the stars in the galaxy.

These are the brightest and most mysterious things in the universe located at the center of the galaxy, and the results will help us discover the history of the largest black hole in the “Sagittarius A * region” at the center of the Milky Way.

Before the black hole swallows up the gas and dust in an active galaxy, the object rotates towards it, releasing massive amounts of energy into the process, often surpassing all the stars in the galaxy – viewed through telescopes on Earth.

Discovering the black hole, which does not emit its own light, is described as a difficult process involving solving a detailed puzzle.

Astronomers say the dust at the center of the black hole supports a decades-old model known as the integrated AGN model.

Violetta James Rosas, lead researcher in the new study, said: “The real nature of dust clouds and their role in feeding the black hole and their role in determining its shape when viewed from Earth have been key questions in the study of the nucleus of cells for the past three decades, and any decision we have to address all the questions we have. If not, we’re taken a big step in understanding how AGN works. “

These bright phenomena were first observed in the 1950s, and astronomers are curious about them.

Using a very large telescopic interferometer, researchers have taken a step to understand how they work and how close they are.

Astronomers are aware that there are many different types of active galaxies, some of which appear much brighter than others, and despite their differences, they all have the same basic structure – a large black hole surrounded by a ring of dust.

According to the integrated 30-year-old AGN model confirmed by these observations, any difference in appearance between the AGNs results from the black hole and its thick ring viewing angle from Earth.

The type of active galaxy nucleus depends on how much of the black hole’s ring of dust is obscured from view, sometimes completely obscured.