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Astronomers may have get a rare " missing link"black holein theMilky Wayafter spotting a group of improbably fast - moving star at the heart of a nearby stellar clustering . If confirmed , the cosmic juggernaut , known as an intermediate - mass black hole ( IMBH ) , would be the second - largest fateful hole ever found in our coltsfoot .
IMBHs are an exceedingly uncommon subset of black hole that are larger thanstellar - aggregate black holesbut humble thansupermassive black trap . This mean they can be anywhere between 100 and 100,000 time the mass ofthe sun , according toNASA .
Researchers have spotted seven superfast stars that appear to be being held in place by a massive black hole.
In theory , IMBHs should be just as coarse as other fateful pickle case . However , astronomer have struggled tolocate potential IMBHsor confirm their beingness — and they are n’t sure why . As a result , IMBHs are often come to to asmissing contact black mess . While several hopeful candidates have been detected , none have been proven to be the material deal .
Now , in a recent study uploaded April 4 to the preprint serverarXiv , researcher may have uncovered grounds of a great IMBH in the globular clusterOmega Centauri — a compact group of around 10 million virtuoso in the Milky elbow room locate around 17,000 easy - years from Earth .
The team compared 500 photographs of Omega Centauri take by theHubble Space Telescopeand mapped the bm of around 1.4 million lead at the cluster ’s center . This revealed at least seven stars that " should not be there , " researchers write in astatement .
Omega Centauri is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way.
This is because these stars were spotted whirr around tight enough to scat the cluster ’s gravity and fly off into intergalactic space . But despite this , the stars carry on to orbit at breakneck stop number near the cluster ’s center .
" The most likely account [ for this ] is that a very massive object is gravitationally pulling on these whiz and keeping them close to the [ bunch ’s ] nub , " subject lead authorMaximilian Häberle , a doctorial campaigner at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy ( MPIA ) in Germany , said in the statement . " The only objective that can be so monumental is a black hole , with a mass at least 8,200 time that of our sun . "
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Researchers have narrowed down a likely location for the IMBH.
The Milky Way’s second-biggest black hole?
Omega Centauri is an strange entity : It is around 10 fourth dimension larger than most other globular clusters and is surprisingly flat . It is so monolithic that you may even see it with the naked eye on disconsolate , clear Night , when it consider up almost as much of the night sky as the moon when viewed from Earth .
Researchers suspect that the clump in all probability used to be a midget galaxy thatorbited the Milky Way , before being pulled into the galaxy ’s middle . As a result , scientists have often wondered if there could have been a respectable black mess at its heart .
Researchersfirst proposedthe idea of an IMBH in Omega Centauri in 2008 , when Hubble revealed how tightly the clump ’s stars are clump at its nerve center . However , at the clock time , other researchers argued that this could be due to a swarm of several smaller , stellar - mass black holes .
But the superfast lead highlighted in the raw study indicate the existence of an IMBH , the field of study writer argue .
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" This discovery is the most lineal evidence so far of an IMBH in Omega Centauri , " study cobalt - authorNadine Neumayer , an stargazer at MPIA , said in the statement . If reassert , it would be the Milky Way ’s second - largest known black hole behindSagittarius A * — the supermassive black hole at the essence of our galaxy , she added . " This is exciting because there are only very few other pitch-dark holes know with a similar mass . "
However , the presence of an IMBH in Omega Centauri is not confirmed , and more data is postulate to know for certain if it is really there . It is also unreadable on the button how large the cosmic entity might be and where it is .
The researcher have been granted time in the time to come to use the powerfulJames Webb Space Telescopeto peer profoundly into the cluster , which means we may not have to wait too long for more evidence of the black hole ’s creation .
