The dust cloud, called X7 and about as massive as 50 Earths, is orbiting our galaxy's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Over the past 20 years, astronomers have observed the cloud's journey ...

In the center of our galaxy, the black hole's intense gravity is stretching apart this cloud of gas and dust, dubbed "X7." Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarenko / Animation screenshot ...

Following two decades of monitoring a dusty gas filament (known as X7) from W. M. Keck Observatory, astronomers believe the cloud will eventually get pulled toward Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) and ...

“This is a very messy process: The stars circle each other, get closer, merge, and the new star is hidden within a cloud of dust and gas,” she said. “X7 could be the dust and gas ejected fro ...

In more recent observations, the strange object — dubbed X7 and believed to be a cloud of dust and gas about 50 times the mass of Earth — has become immensely elongated by the powerful forces ...

Scientists now believe that it could be a cloud of gas and dust that was thrown out when two stars collided. In the time since, the object known as X7 has been stretched out, and is gradually ...