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  1. If there is a super massive black hole at the center of the milky way galaxy and it sucks matter and light especially, how does the center of galaxy look bright?
  2. If we are slowly getting sucked into it then does Earth has a specific 'expiration' date?
  3. If there really is a black hole at the center of milky way, does that mean we can't escape our galaxy? Since we know lightest matter gets heavily influenced by a stronger force (in this case black hole's gravity).

EDIT - Reference links:

Super massive black holes

Galactic center

Han
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  • Can you support your "If" statements with facts? I haven't heard there is a super massive black hole at the center of the universe. Can you add a link or reference to where you have found this described? – uhoh May 04 '17 at 10:46
  • @uhoh I've added the links in the latest edit. – Han May 04 '17 at 11:42
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    This belongs over in Astronomy.SE. – DylanSp May 04 '17 at 12:17
  • Center of the universe is not the same as center of the galaxy. Also, this should be in Astronomy SE not in Space Exploration. – uhoh May 04 '17 at 12:24
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    "Light sucker" is a graphic term I benefit from this question. "-Forget the fusion cannons, fire the light sucker!" – LocalFluff May 04 '17 at 12:50
  • @DylanSp All of these have already been answered at Astronomy, so I will not be migrating. – called2voyage May 04 '17 at 16:18
  • @called2voyage can we close it as a duplicate, then? – DylanSp May 04 '17 at 20:02
  • @DylanSp No, you can't close things as cross-site duplicates (only Physics and Chemistry have the ability to do that between each other). – called2voyage May 04 '17 at 20:03

1 Answers1

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  1. The light is not coming from the black hole. Like you said, it pulls all the light into it so we can't see it. The center of the galaxy looks brighter then the rest of the galaxy, because the star density is very high in the center area. Since the suns are far enough from the black hole then the light can escape the gravitational pull of the black hole. The black hole in the center is actually very small when compared to the size of the galaxy.

  2. The bodies in the orbit around the black hole are in stable orbit and they are not sucked into black hole. Like Earth is in stable orbit with the Sun and the Moon orbits around the Earth. Earth has an expiration date, but not due to the black hole in the center of the galaxy. Our Sun runs out of hydrogen in about 4.4 – 5.5 billion years. Once the hydrogen is exhausted then the Sun will start to expand in size and consume Earth in the process.

  3. If you can generate enough velocity then sure, you can escape the Milky Way galaxy.

Marko Sulamägi
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  • Also, to add to this, the disk of accretion around a black hole is spinning matter (stars) very very fast. These globules of gas interact with each other and give off extreme amounts of light, but are not inside of the event horizon. They're more analogous to the earth orbiting the sun, except it's gasses orbiting a black hole, emitting light away from the blackhole. – Magic Octopus Urn Mar 28 '19 at 13:14