A new study has identified the best example yet of an intermediate-mass black hole about 18,000 lights-years from Earth
A black hole more than 8,000 times more massive than the sun might have just been found hiding among a massive cluster of millions of stars.Astronomers may have just found the most compelling example yet for a rare kind of black hole that has long been theorized, but which has proven to be even more elusive than more common varieties.
How, and even if, normal black holes grow into supermassive black holes isn’t known, as they would have to pass through an intermediate phase where they accrete enough mass to become thousands to tens of thousands of times more massive than the sun. It’s these intermediate-mass black holes that astronomers have been looking for but have struggled to find.
The international team behind the new study used this timelapse series to get a sense of these stars’ speed and direction, and they identified a number of anomalous stars in the cluster’s center.
Intermediate Mass Black Hole Space
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Astronomers discover Earth’s closest black holeAndrew Paul is Popular Science's staff writer covering tech news. Previously, he was a regular contributor to The A.V. Club and Input, and has had recent work featured by Rolling Stone, Fangoria, GQ, Slate, NBC, as well as McSweeney's Internet Tendency. He lives outside Indianapolis.
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