Sgr A Relativistic Jets Visible?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the visibility of potential relativistic jets emitted by the supermassive black hole Sgr A at the center of the Milky Way. Participants explore the conditions under which these jets might be visible from Earth, considering both current observations and hypothetical scenarios.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how visible relativistic jets from Sgr A would be from Earth if they were emitted at a 90-degree angle from our line of sight.
  • Another participant notes the difficulty in observing such jets due to the black hole's current low activity level, suggesting that jets are typically emitted during periods of significant matter accretion.
  • A participant expresses curiosity about whether these jets would be visible in the sky without telescopes, indicating that if they were large and bright enough, they could potentially be seen with the naked eye.
  • There is speculation that significant jets might be visible in the distant future, particularly during the anticipated merger of the Milky Way with the Andromeda galaxy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the visibility of jets from Sgr A is contingent on specific conditions, such as the black hole's activity level and the amount of matter being accreted. However, there is no consensus on the likelihood of such jets being visible in the near future.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights uncertainties regarding the current state of Sgr A and the conditions necessary for jet visibility, including the dependence on matter accretion and the potential for future astronomical events.

D English
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Hello,

Question: If Sgr A were to emit relativistic jets, say... to a 90 degree angle from what we see as the Milky Way, how visible would that be to us on Earth?

The pictures I see on the internet suggest that the jets are about twice as long as galaxies themselves. This makes me think that the light-show would be tremendous.
 
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It's a little difficult to find such jets because they're only emitted while the black hole is gobbling up matter, and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy hasn't been doing much of that lately. However, there is some evidence of jets from combining Chandra and VLA data:
http://www.chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/sgra/
 
Thanks Chalnoth!

I should have been more clear. I mean, would we see the jets in our sky?

For example, if Sgr A were doing this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/ESO_Centaurus_A_LABOCA.jpg

ESO_Centaurus_A_LABOCA.jpg
 
Last edited:
D English said:
Thanks Chalnoth!

I should have been more clear. I mean, would we see the jets in our sky?

For example, if Sgr A were doing this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/ESO_Centaurus_A_LABOCA.jpg

ESO_Centaurus_A_LABOCA.jpg
Do you mean would it be visible with the unaided eye? Certainly if the jets were large and bright enough, we could see them without telescopes and in visible light. But it seems pretty unlikely that this will happen for the Milky Way any time soon, as it requires a huge amount of matter falling into the black hole to make for a show like the one in the above picture. Maybe there will be some visible jets created when the Milky Way merges with Andromeda in a billion years or so.
 

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