Surprising discovery of Omega Centauri: Huge black hole discovered

New studies published in the journal Nature have shown that a medium-mass black hole exists in the Omega Centauri star cluster. This galaxy cluster, just 18,000 light-years away, is now the closest known supermassive black hole to our solar system.

What is a medium mass black hole?

Scientists have not yet discovered any intermediate mass black holes (IMBH). These black holes fall between the well-studied stellar black holes, which have masses up to a few tens of solar masses, and the supermassive giant black holes found at the centers of galaxies. Various theories suggest that IMBH’s mass ranges from 100,000 to a few hundred thousand times the mass of the Sun. Its discovery is very important for understanding how galaxies change over time and how the early universe worked.

Omega Centauri Incident

Astronomers have long been interested in Omega Centauri because it is the most massive globular cluster in the Milky Way and may be the center of a smaller galaxy that has been swallowed. It was believed to contain a black hole inside, but this was not proven until recent studies with the Hubble Space Telescope. By looking at older data and observing the speed at which some of the stars were spinning (a huge, unknown force prevented them from leaving the cluster), the idea of ​​an IMBH with at least 8,200 solar masses emerged.

Method and discovery

More than 500 old images from the Hubble Space Telescope were examined for the study. These paintings showed scenes created over 20 years. From these images it was possible to verify the movement of 1.4 million stars in Omega Centauri. The motion patterns of seven very fast-moving stars pointed to the gravitational pull of a lurking massive object that was later shown to be a black hole.

About the formation routes of black holes

The main way black holes form is when massive stars run out of nuclear fuel and collapse under their own weight. There are other forms, such as direct collapse, that do not form stars. This usually occurs in dense regions, where hydrogen clouds form directly in the black hole. Through gravitational waves, binary star systems can merge to form black holes. Supermassive black holes sometimes form when large clouds of gas collapse directly into each other in the early stages of a galaxy, or they can form when smaller black holes merge sequentially. Over time, black holes grow as they absorb more matter and collide with other black holes.

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