Universe ID: 11638

Dark Discovery

Story by Francis Reddy | Visualizations by Scott Wiessinger Released on September 9, 2014

Dying stars form modest black holes measuring up to around 25 times the mass of our sun. At the opposite extreme, most large galaxies contain a supermassive black hole with a mass tens of thousands of times greater. But in a galaxy about 12 million light-years away, scientists have found evidence that points to the existence of a rare breed of black hole weighing somewhere in between. The object, called M82 X-1, is the brightest X-ray source in the galaxy Messier 82. While astronomers have suspected it of being a midsize, or intermediate-mass, black hole for at least a decade, an accurate determination of its mass hasn’t been made until now. Using archival data from NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite, astronomers discovered that M82 X-1 weighs about 400 times the sun's mass, placing it among the few midsize black holes known. Watch the video to learn more.

Story Credits

Lead Visualizer/Animator:
Scott Wiessinger (USRA)

Visualizer/Animator:
Dana Berry (Skyworks Digital)

Video Editor:
Scott Wiessinger (USRA)

Narrator:
Scott Wiessinger (USRA)

Producer:
Scott Wiessinger (USRA)

Project Support:
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Lead Writer:
Francis Reddy (Syneren Technologies)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Messier 82 galaxy image courtesy of NASA/ESA/STScI
M82 X-1 X-ray image courtesy of NASA/CXC

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11638

Keywords:
SVS >> Astrophysics
DLESE >> Narrated
SVS >> App
SVS >> RXTE
NASA Science >> Universe