The supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy is tearing apart and devouring an unknown object X7 with a mass of about 50 Earth masses and a speed of 4 million km/h

Scientists have been observing a mysterious object at the centre of our galaxy for 20 years. It's called X7. Astronomers seem to have found out what it is.

Here's What We Know

X7 is located at the centre of the Milky Way, near a supermassive black hole which is slowly but surely sucking it into itself. Initially, scientists had several hypotheses as to what the mysterious object was.

Astronomers speculated that X7 might be part of one of the structures located nearby, or a formation of astrophysical jets. After scientists investigated the evolution of the X7 for 20 years, they concluded that the object could be a cloud of gas and dust from the collision of two stars. Although this is still a matter of debate.

A supermassive black hole near X7 is gradually pulling it closer to itself and tearing it apart. The cloud is expected to disintegrate in a few decades and be completely absorbed by the black hole.

X7 has shown a unique evolution for its habitat. It originally had the shape of a comet, but over the course of 20 years, it has greatly expanded. X7 has a mass of about 50 Earth masses and a velocity of over 4 million km/h.

The object is in orbit around the radio source Sagittarius A*, which was discovered on 13 February 1974. It will take 170 years to complete a full rotation, but scientists believe X7 will disappear before then. But that will be after 2036, when the object will have come the closest possible distance to Sagittarius A*.

Source: UCLA