Intermediate-Mass Black Holes

July 11, 2024

Intermediate-mass black holes are a fascinating and elusive aspect of black hole evolution. These black holes are smaller than the supermassive ones found at the centers of large galaxies but larger than the stellar-mass black holes that result from the collapse of massive stars. Despite their importance, only a handful of intermediate-mass black hole candidates have been identified so far.

In a recent study, a team of astronomers scrutinized over 500 images captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope over the past two decades. Their objective was to find evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole by observing the movement of seven rapidly moving stars in the Omega Centauri globular star cluster.

The scientists believe that a massive object is exerting a gravitational pull on these stars, keeping them near the cluster's center. By analyzing the stars' motions, they estimate that this object has a mass of at least 8,200 times that of our Sun. Given that the mass range for an intermediate-mass black hole is between 100 and 100,000 solar masses, the only plausible explanation for such a massive object is that it is an intermediate-mass black hole.

Learn more at NASA.

The video above is intended for educational purposes and does not constitute or imply an endorsement by FutureForAll.org.