The Milky Way’s supermassive black hole reached record brightness this year
The behemoth at the center of the galaxy flared up in near-infrared wavelengths
![black hole illustration](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/091619_ec_blackhole_feat.jpg?fit=1028%2C579&ssl=1)
The Milky Way’s central black hole recently got brighter. That could be the result of a star (illustrated in blue) that neared the black hole in 2018.
Nicolle Fuller/NSF