Sagittarius A*

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Sagittarius A*

Where it comes from

From being the unseen gravitational centre associated with the astronomical radio source Sagittarius A, the astrophysical radio source associated with the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. The asterisk * originally symbolized an exciting discovery, by analogy with the symbol's use to denote the excited state of atoms.

proper noun

The central supermassive black hole of the Milky Way Galaxy. Sagittarius A*, the black hole in the Milky Way galaxy, was a harder target. It is less than one-thousandth the mass and size of the M87 hole and, therefore, evolves a thousand times faster.
Similar: Sgr A*

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MLA

"Sagittarius A." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sagittarius%20a. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Sagittarius A. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sagittarius%20a

Chicago

"Sagittarius A." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sagittarius%20a.

BibTeX

@misc{sagittarius_a_2026,
  title = {Sagittarius A*},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sagittarius%20a*},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}