Milky Way's Huge Black Hole to Gobble Gas Cloud Soon

by Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com contributor   |   January 23, 2014 07:11am ET

A compilation of Swift telescope observations of the center of the Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole lurks. Credit: Natalie Degenaar View full size image

A giant gas cloud is set to spiral into the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's core in the next few months, and scientists should get a great view of the dramatic celestial action.