Intermediate-mass black holes are a long-sought
“missing link” in black hole evolution.
They are smaller than the supermassive black holes
that lie at the cores of large galaxies,
but larger than stellar-mass black holes formed
by the collapse of massive stars.
Only a few candidates have been found to date.
Now, a team of astronomers analyzed over
500 images from 20 years of
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observations
to find evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole
by tracking seven fast-moving stars
in the Omega Centauri globular star cluster.
Scientists think a massive object is gravitationally pulling on the stars
within Omega Centauri, keeping them close to its center.
From the motions of the stars,
they estimate it has a mass of at least 8.200 times that of our Sun.
The only object that can be so massive is a black hole.
This discovery is the most direct evidence,
so far, of an intermediate-mass black hole in Omega Centauri,
which is exciting because only a few other known
black holes have a similar mass.
Thanks to Hubble’s treasure trove of data, astronomers were able to
make this incredible discovery as we continue to uncover
more and more mysteries of the universe!
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