The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has reported that the earth is spiraling towards the massive black hole of the Milky Way faster than the speed of 7 Km/s. Experts as well have said that the earth is 2000 light-years closer to Milky Ways’ supermassive black hole. The new map of the Milky Way has been prepared by the space agency itself. Experts have said that we are much closer to the black hole than we have thought earlier. However, it does not mean that the earth is going to be pushed into the black hole. The new model of the Milky Way Galaxy has been based on new observational data. Astronomers who have been involved in a project called VERA have analyzed a catalog of objects over more than 15 years. The VERA is a project, which has been put together by the Japan Radio Astronomy.
The VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA), where VLBI stands for Very Long Baseline Interferometry has started in 2000. It maps three-dimensional velocity and spatial structures in the Milky Way Galaxy. VERA utilizes a method called interferometry to merge data from radio telescopes, which are dispersed across the Japan archipelago. This is done to achieve the same resolution as a 2300 KM telescope might have produced. Experts can get 10 microarcseconds of measurement accuracy through this method, which is sharp enough to determine a penny of the US placed on the surface of the moon. Experts have said that we cannot see how the galaxy looks like from outside because the earth is located inside the Milky Way Galaxy. Astrometry helps us to get an accurate measurement of the locations and positions of the objects. It is an important tool, which can help understand the overall formation of the Galaxy and our exact location in it. The first VERA Astrometry Catalogue has published the data of 99 objects this year.
Astronomers have made a position and velocity map based on the VERA Astrometry Catalogue. With the help of this map, they have been able to identify the center of the Galaxy, a spot that everything revolves around. The map has shown that the center of the Galaxy and a massive black hole which is located in it are around 25800 light-years far from the earth. This is nearer than the official value of 27700 light-years, which have been set by the International Astronomical Union in 1985. The velocity factor of the map shows that the earth is moving at a 227 Km/s speed as it orbits around that Galactic center. This is 7 Km/s faster than the official value, which is 220 Km/s.
