The Mysterious Awakening of the Milky Way's Central Black Hole

A mysterious echo from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, called Sagittarius A*, has revealed that it briefly woke up 200 years ago. The black hole, located 26,000 light-years away, was believed to be dormant for millions of years until a faint afterglow traced upon a gas cloud showed that it glowed at least a million times brighter in the past. The cause of this sudden eruption remains unclear, but it could have been triggered by a large gas cloud or a massive star feeding the black hole.