Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 8/25/2008

Question
I know our milky way has a black hole(is there only one?) Why don't they just suck up everything everywhere?
Thanks vicki

Answer
Hi,
Yes Vicki,
1 - There is most cirtainly a supermassive blck hole at the center of the milky way, as evidenced by CHANDRA X Ray observatory.
link:-
New Twists on the Milky Way's Big Black Hole
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_031124.html
link:-
Milky Way's Central Black Hole Captured by Chandra
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/cosmic_monster_030106.html

Black hole occur everywhere in the galaxy, not only at its center.
Cygnus X-1 is one such candidate that has been studied at length.
link:-
Skywatch -- Cygnus X 1
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/skywatch_000630.html


2 - They dont "suck up everything everywhere" because even black holes are subject to the omnipotent all pervasive fundamental law that governs the "weak" (gravitational and electrostatic) fields.
Namely:-

The inverse square law.

Even the super massive black hole at the Galactic center (Sagittarius A) exerts a "just insignificant" or "infinitesimal" pull on us at 26,000 light years! That is the reason we orbit the galactic center

(ofcourse abetted by all the stars that are encompassed by the sun's peripheral orbit. (We are on the outlying peripheral parts of the galaxy, and our orbit goes "up and down" the galactic plane as we proceed).

So The inverse square law prevents black holes from "sucking up everything everywhere".

Please do rate the answer if you find it helpful.

Regards,

Jayen