The Black Hole In The Center Of Our Galaxy Might Be A Wormhole, Scientists Say

Wormholes in space have long been the domain of science fiction novels and time travel movies. However, scientists are now saying that there could be a veritable wormhole, and right in our backyard. According to Pop Sci, a group of astrophysicists believe that the black hole at the center of our galaxy — known as Sag A — could be a wormhole, and they have the analysis to back it up.

Wormholes have long been a theory in which astrophysicists believe that there could be a passage through space-time that could create shortcuts to different parts of the universe. They have been of particular interest to scientists and aficionados of time travel.

It’s not just more open-minded scientists who believe in the theory of wormholes. In fact, the theory was supported by none other than Albert Einstein, and the original name for a wormhole was an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Einstein noted that these bridges across space and time were mathematically predicted by his theory of general relativity.

Though there are multiple different ways theoretically to create a wormhole, a black hole has been the only one that seems to exist in the universe.

Scientists from the University at Buffalo are now anxious to see if the black hole in the center of the galaxy might be one of those bridges across spacetime. In new calculations, they have theorized that objects on one side of the wormhole would be able to feel the gravitational effects of particularly large masses from the other side.

“We were kind of surprised,” said Dejan Stojkovic, a theoretical physicist at the University at Buffalo and part of the team that is behind this discovery, “but what else would you expect? Gravity is the property of spacetime itself.”

Building on this discovery, the team now wants to study the movements of stars that orbit the black hole to see if they feel any tugs of gravity from the potential wormholes, which would be noticed by unpredicted movements. Though the effects might be minuscule, they would be there.

The researchers have particularly zeroed in on one star called S2. Not only is it close to Sag A, but its acceleration has already been calculated to a four-decimal-place precision. That means that scientists could notice even slight changes.

“If astronomers just measure the orbit of S2 with higher precision so that we can narrow it down [and notice such a dance],” added Stojkovic, a theoretical physicist at the University at Buffalo and part of the team that is behind this discovery. “That’s it. That’s huge.”

That said, the odds that Sag A is actually a wormhole are slim, something that Stojkovic himself admits. Nevertheless, he believes it is worthwhile to study — just in case.

Sag A has been in the news lately for other reasons as well. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, scientists are sounding the alarm that it has been growing at an unprecedented pace.

“We have never seen anything like this in the 24 years we have studied the supermassive black hole,” said Andrea Ghez, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy.