Astronomers have produced the cleanest X-ray view yet of Sgr A East. It is the closest known supernova remnant to the Milky Way’s central black hole.

The region around the black hole is crowded. X-rays from the remnant mix with X-rays from hot star winds and other sources. This made it hard to study the remnant alone.

A team led by Mayura Balakrishnan used deep data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. They applied a special technique to separate the three overlapping X-ray sources.

For the first time, the remnant’s X-rays are free of contamination. The team also made maps of elements inside it, including iron, sulfur, argon, and calcium.

The iron is concentrated at the centre. The remnant is also denser and younger in X-ray terms than earlier studies suggested. It is about 10,000 years old, though its exact age is uncertain.

The findings appear in The Astrophysical Journal. They will help scientists learn how the exploded star shaped the environment around the black hole.