Based on radio telescope data and models of black hole physics, a team led by Caltech has used neural networks to reconstruct a 3D image that shows how explosive flare-ups in the disk of gas around our supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), might look.

The 3D flare structure features two bright, compact features located about 75 million kilometers (or half the distance between Earth and the Sun) from the center of the black hole. It is based on data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile after an eruption seen in X-ray data on April 11, 2017.

Here, the reconstructed 3D structure is seen from a fixed angle as the model evolves over a span of about 100 minutes, showing the path the two bright features trace around the black hole.

More info: www.caltech.edu/about/news/ai-and-physics-combine-to-reveal-the-3d-structure-of-a-flare-erupting-around-a-black-hole