Gunnison Valley Observatory staff hosted the Crested Butte Cub Scouts and visited the Gunnison 4^th grade classes last week. The good news is that the minds of our young are exceptionally inquisitive and open which are the two fundamental ethics of good scientific method.

The more astute minds in the classes were curious about the nature of black holes, and with good reason. These phenomena represent the frontier of our cosmological understandings despite being used as the plot device for the latest Star Trek film. While we can’t actually see black holes we can observe their functioning by using a broad spectrum of energy detection techniques. These new and enhanced methods have led to the discovery of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, about 27,000 light years away, and the hypothesis of a supermassive black hole therein named Sagittarius A.

Observe the location of the black hole in the center of our own galaxy in Crested Butte’s southern night sky during the summer months along the visible dust lane of the Milky Way between the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpio. Viewers should look to the north of where the spout of the Sagittarius teapot dips into the Milky Way. These constellations are visible in the early morning hours in our southern skies right now. It won’t be until the middle of July that they will become visible after sunset for evening viewing.

Tags: 000 light years away, 27, black holes, center of the Milky Way Galaxy, crested butte, Crested Butte Cub Scouts, frontier of cosmological understandings, good scientific method, Kevin McGruther, Milky Way Galaxy, nature of black holes, Sagittarius A, Sagittarius Constellation, Scorpio Constellation, Star Trek film, supermassive black hole

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