Gas cloud approaches certain doom

Scientists have found a huge gas cloud accelerating towards the black hole in the centre of the Milky Way.

This is the first time astronomers have witnesses the approach of a 'doomed cloud', which in this case is several times the mass of Earth, to a supermassive black hole.

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, the scientists intend to track the new object approaching the black hole.

Over the last seven years, the speed of the gas cloud has nearly doubled to 8 million km/h and is expected to approach the black hole in mid-2013.

"The idea of an astronaut close to a black hole being stretched out to resemble spaghetti is familiar from science fiction. But we can now see this happening for real to the newly discovered cloud. It is not going to survive the experience," explained Stefan Gillessen, the lead author of the paper.

Over the next few years, scientists will gain valuable lessons from watching the black hole consume the gas cloud.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths