Rotating Black Hole at Milky Way’s Core Identified as Powerful Galactic PeVatron

New high‑energy observations have strengthened the case that the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way functions as a galactic PeVatron, accelerating particles to peta‑electron‑volt energies and even releasing neutrons that travel outward from the center.

Astrophysicists often liken active black holes to cellular mitochondria, converting matter into vast amounts of energy. The bulk of that power does not come from the black hole itself but from the swirling plasma in its accretion disk, where friction and intense magnetic fields heat the gas to extreme temperatures.

In the vicinity of a rotating, or Kerr, black hole, magnetic field lines become twisted and can launch jets that pierce the surrounding medium. Within these jets, particles are repeatedly scattered and energized, a process that can boost protons and heavier nuclei to energies exceeding one quadrillion electron‑volts. When such ultra‑relativistic nuclei interact with ambient gas or radiation, they can produce secondary particles, including neutral neutrons that escape the magnetic confinement.

Recent detections of very‑high‑energy gamma rays emanating from the Galactic Center, together with a faint flux of neutrons inferred from air‑shower arrays, point to a source capable of sustaining PeV‑scale acceleration. The spatial distribution of the gamma‑ray emission aligns with the position of the central black hole, Sagittarius A*, suggesting that its rotating engine is the most plausible accelerator.

These findings have broad implications for the long‑standing mystery of the origin of the highest‑energy cosmic rays that bombard Earth. If the Milky Way’s nucleus can act as a PeVatron, it may contribute a significant fraction of the Galactic cosmic‑ray budget, complementing other candidate sites such as supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae.

Future facilities, including the Cherenkov Telescope Array and next‑generation neutrino observatories, will test this scenario by mapping the energy spectrum and spatial morphology of the emission with finer detail. Confirming a neutron‑producing PeVatron at the Galaxy’s core would cement rotating black holes as key engines in high‑energy astrophysics, linking the dynamics of extreme gravity to the particle environment throughout the Milky Way.