Researchers have discovered Earth's closest massive black hole within the Milky Way.
ESA, Hubble & NASA handout photo of a colored ESA/Hubble image of an area where a black hole that has been observed in the star cluster called Omega Centauri, a collection of around ten million stars.Fast-moving stars seen in a nearby star cluster within the Milky Way suggest the presence of an elusive black hole which may be the closest one to Earth, researchers say.
The black hole, which is at a distance of about 18,000 light-years, appears to be stuck in an intermediate stage of evolution and is considerably less massive than typical black holes in the centres of galaxies.Researchers say the finding appears to be the missing link between stellar and supermassive black holes.
Dr Nadine Neumayer, a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, said: “Previous studies had prompted critical questions of ‘So where are the high-speed stars?’“At a distance of about 18,000 light-years, this is the closest known example of a massive black hole.”is at a distance of about 27,000 light-years.
The results could suggest that searching for intermediate-mass black holes in other globular clusters may be warranted.We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
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