Black holes · Black hole · supermassive black hole
The black hole at the centre of our galaxy, seen in radio light by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2017.
Featured palette: Event Horizon Telescope image, 2017 data (Sampled from this image)
#A15321#070000#2C0001#670101#E76A08#AD2F01#FBBF62
Credit: EHT Collaboration. · released 12 May 2022
About Sagittarius A*
Sagittarius A* is the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The EHT observed it at 1.3 mm in 2017; its image is consistent with a black hole of about 4 million solar masses, inferred from earlier infrared observations of stars orbiting it.
| Classification | Black hole (supermassive black hole) |
|---|---|
| Host galaxy | Milky Way |
| Mass | 4.0 million solar masses aboutmass inferred from earlier infrared observations of stars orbiting it; the EHT image is consistent with it · Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration / arXiv |
| Observed with | Event Horizon Telescope, 1.3 mmhow the image was made · 2017 · Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration / arXiv |
Why these colours?
A ring of radio light
The orange ring is a brightness scale for 1.3 mm radio emission from gas near the black hole.
From: Event Horizon Telescope image, 2017 data Mapped non-visible data
Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.
Colours from selected views
Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Sagittarius A*.
Event Horizon Telescope image, 2017 data
Sampled from this image · Event Horizon Telescope image, 2017 data
#A15321RGB 161, 83, 33region average#070000RGB 7, 0, 034% of the region#2C0001RGB 44, 0, 126% of the region#670101RGB 103, 1, 112% of the region#E76A08RGB 231, 106, 812% of the region#AD2F01RGB 173, 47, 110% of the region#FBBF62RGB 251, 191, 986% of the region
See where these colours came from
Creative palettes inspired by Sagittarius A*
A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.
Galactic Heart
Inspired by this object
#040000RGB 4, 0, 0from #070000#180000RGB 24, 0, 0from #2C0001#3F0101RGB 63, 1, 1from #670101#944206RGB 148, 66, 6from #E76A08#6E1B02RGB 110, 27, 2from #AD2F01#AA771BRGB 170, 119, 27from #FBBF62
The EHT image’s oranges deepened into an ember palette.
Explore the views
Pick a colour from the image. Click or tap the picture to read a colour. Picked colours are yours, not catalogue samples.
No supported 3D model is available for this view. You can still inspect the source imagery and palette.
Use these colours
Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.
Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.
Questions about Sagittarius A*’s colours
Is this a photograph?
It is an image reconstructed from radio data recorded by telescopes across the planet, with an assigned colour scale.
Sources
- Black Holes — NASA
- First image of our black hole — ESO
- First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I (ApJL 930, L12, 2022) — Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration / arXiv
Image credits
- Event Horizon Telescope image, 2017 data: EHT Collaboration. CC BY 4.0. Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 43bef2802a78a06ca7dc41089dff623d59da63640a9898c8807f483f9ea84879).
Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision 28d98e80cc6d. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.