Dangerous Space
This is the text version of the interactive 3D documentary. 한국어
Danger ranking › Extreme objects
Sagittarius A*
Extreme objects #4 · The heaviest object in our galaxy — and at a very safe distance
View in 3D- Name
- Sagittarius A*
- Type
- Supermassive black hole
- Size
- About 4 million times the Sun’s mass
- Distance
- about 26,000 light-years from Earth · light takes 26,000 years (Center of the Milky Way)
The story in 1 scene
The black hole at the heart of the galaxy
At the center of the Milky Way, about 26,000 light-years away, is a black hole with about 4 million times the Sun’s mass. In May 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team released the first image of its shadow.
Why?A black hole only swallows what gets very close to it. At this distance, its gravity has practically no effect on Earth.
What nextThe research that proved this black hole exists — by tracking the stars orbiting the galaxy’s center — won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.
See this scene in 3D →Sources
Wikipedia: Sagittarius A* · Event Horizon Telescope
Impact-threat rankings and probabilities follow NASA/JPL’s Sentry risk table (as of 2026-11-04). The other categories are editorial rankings using the published criteria. Distances to stars can carry large uncertainties.