Star's orbit near black hole warps its view of the universe

The star S301 circles Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, at a distance so close that its perception of the heavens is severely distorted by gravitational time dilation and light bending. Although the star itself resembles an ordinary sun-like object, its extreme location makes its cosmic perspective unlike any other known. Astronomers use infrared observations to track such stars and probe the intense environment surrounding the black hole.