Dr. Andrea Mia Ghez Discovers Giant Black Hole

Dr. Andrea Ghez won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Have you ever heard of a black hole? Black holes are objects in space. They have so much gravity, not even light can escape them. Scientists recently found a giant black hole. It is at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It has more than four million times as much matter as our Sun! 

Dr. Andrea Ghez is one of the astronomers who discovered this huge black hole. An astronomer is someone who studies objects in space. You might call Ghez a black hole detective. She has been interested in astronomy since she watched the first person walk on the Moon. 

This black hole is very far from Earth. So how did Ghez find something so far away? She used a very powerful telescope and a lot of math.  Ghez has studied math and science since she was a child. Now, she teaches at a university. 

In 2020, Ghez, Reinhard Genzel, and Sir Roger Penrose won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Ghez is only the fourth woman to win this prize. Marie Curie was the first. 

What Do You Think? Would you like to be an astronomer? 

Photo Credit: Mike Blake/REUTERS/Alamy Stock Photo