HUBBLE FINDS EVIDENCE OF MID-SIZED BLACK HOLE
Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of a black hole of an elusive class known as “intermediate mass.”
This mid-sized black hole betrayed its existence by tearing apart a wayward star that passed too close.
About 50,000 times more massive than our Sun, this black hole is smaller than supermassive black holes that lie at the cores of large galaxies…
…but it’s larger than stellar-mass black holes formed by the collapse of a massive star.
In 2006, satellites detected a powerful flare of X-rays, but researchers weren’t sure if the source was inside or outside our galaxy.
Hubble was pointed at the X-ray source to figure out its precise location.
Hubble found that the X-rays emanated from a distant, dense star cluster on the outskirts of another galaxy…
…the exact place astronomers would expect to find a mid-sized black hole.
Mid-sized black holes are a long-sought “missing link” in black hole evolution.
They’re very difficult to find because they’re smaller and less active than supermassive black holes.
Astronomers essentially have to catch one red-handed in the act of gobbling up a star. And this time, they did.
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