[SunkenCiv]

Given that masses and distances are estimated based on Einstein's work, it's not too surprising that the orbits don't seem to conform. :') Two-lister!

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[SunkenCiv]

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Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·

[r9etb]

What an unfortunate article. A big buildup suggesting something cool to follow.... and for that I thank you.

But then the article just sorta peters out into a rather lame prelude to grant applications.

[guitarplayer1953]

This is kind of like the old penny arcade film machines that have girls in them and you put in a dime and it goes so far and you keep having to put dimes in to see the end of the film.

[dr_lew]

What makes this system worth studying is the fact that Schwarzschild radius around the supermassive black hole extends about the same distance as the orbit of Mercury.

...

The particular black hole at the core of the Milky Way has the mass of about four million Suns, experts say.

If we believe the first fact, which is stated without qualification, we don't need experts to tell us the second fact, which is entirely equivalent to it, according to the definition of the Schwarzschild radius.

[E8crossE8]

This article exhibits the pleasing characteristic of - at least - not displaying atrocious errors of scientific fact, as do far too many popular articles written about ongoing research.

Incidentally, one poster wrote above that the author of the article states without qualification with respect to the presumed black hole 'Sagittarius A' that its "Schwarzschild radius around the supermassive black hole extends about the same distance as the orbit of Mercury." This is an established fact, described in, among other publications, Schodel, R., et al., Nature 419, 694 (2002) and Ghez, A. M., et al., ApJ 586, L127 (2003).