VISUAL ARCHIVE / IMAGE STORY
S301 at the Edge of Strong Gravity
An artist's view of a measured stellar orbit and a black-hole spin that remains to be determined.
Artist’s impression of S301 near Sagittarius A. The star’s extreme orbit may let astronomers measure the central black hole’s spin through its effect on stellar motion. AI-generated illustration; sizes and distances are illustrative.*
THE OBSERVATION
What we can actually see.
Interferometric observations constrain S301's short, eccentric orbit near Sagittarius A*. The published analysis finds a path that could be sensitive to the central black hole's spin with further observations and spectroscopy.
THE ILLUSTRATION
What the artwork imagines.
The radiant disk, star trail, apparent proximity, and visible distortion are an interpretation of a region hidden by dust and unresolved in this form. The artwork does not show a photographed event horizon or an already measured spin.
FROM THE ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE
The story that inspired it.
The article follows a star that may have survived the breakup of a binary pair and explains how repeated passages could make a subtle prediction of general relativity measurable.
Read The Star Our Black Hole KeptCHECK THE RECORD
The image interprets the research below. Follow the original work for the measurements and limits behind the scene.
S301 discovery paperOTHER IMAGE STORIES
The Companion We Have Not Found
One Star Bound, One Star Gone
The Mark Shared by Titan and Pluto