Black Hole 30,000 Times More Massive Than Sun Detected At The Center Of Milky Way Galaxy

[Judi Lynn]

Astronomers noticed the gas cloud HCN-0.009-0.044 swirling around an invisible massive object 30,000 times the mass of the sun. This led to the discovery of an intermediate-mass black hole at the center of our galaxy. ( NAOJ )

2 March 2019, 8:11 am EST By Allan Adamson Tech Times


Astronomers have discovered a black hole lurking in the galaxy. The intermediate-mass black hole, one of over 100 million quiet black holes believed to be lurking in the Milky Way, was detected from its effects on an interstellar gas cloud.

Black Holes
Black holes have such a strong gravity it can suck in everything, including light. Because these objects do not emit light, astronomers only infer their existence based on the effects of their gravity on other objects.

The discovery of this black hole may pave way for a new method of searching for other hidden blacks and provide a better understanding of how black holes grow and evolve.

New Method To Find Other Black Holes
Shunya Takekawa, from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and colleagues used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to conduct a further investigation after observing the gas cloud HCN-0.009-0.044 moving near the center of the galaxy 25,000 light years away.

More:
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/239107/20190302/black-hole-30-000-times-more-massive-than-sun-detected-at-the-center-of-milky-way-galaxy.htm

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Is this actually new?

I'm aware that pretty much all galaxies have black holes in the center, and we've known for some time that there's one in the center of our galaxy.

I guess I'll have to check in with My Son the Astronomer about this.

I frequently check in with him about such things, and I absolutely love that I have him as a resource.

[Igel]

2. This isn't Sag A*.

It's a different one, not a "supermassive" black hole.

"Study researcher Tomoharu Oka, from Keio University, said the newly detected intermediate-mass black hole being found only 20 light years away from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy has significant implications." It goes to how you get supermassive black holes. Are they primordial, the result of collapse of supermassive nebulae or stars from the first gen of star formation or do they result from mergers.

Never able to wrap my head around the idea of really large masses even early on, I've just sort of pretended that option never existed and went with "of course the really large ones are formed by mergers."

Then again, not an astronomer, so what do I know?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Oh! Oh! Oh!

I will have to discuss this with My Son the Astronomer.

He's in a PhD program in astronomy at George Mason University, hence what I call him. Aside from the fact he's my wonderful son, he's my go-to guy for all questions astronomical. I send him a text asking him if Ask the Astronomer is available. If the Astronomer is, we chat.

I often tell random people that I could give you his phone number, and if you simply say you are a friend of his mother's, he will probably answer all your questions.

In reality, I don't give out his number, because it wouldn't be very nice, but I am so lucky to have him.

I will try to get back to you after I discuss this with him. But more to the point, thank you ever so much for posting this.

[pangaia]

3. I was really enjoying reading the article, but..

then I saw the photo of toe fungus..... creeped me out

[Turbineguy]

4. They should name

a black hole after trump.

[qazplm135]

8. nah

go with the toe fungus.

[ZZenith]

5. I'd be well-nigh scientifically illiterate were it not for your tireless efforts, Judi Lynn!

[Judi Lynn]

7. Pretty sure these are all new to me, too, ZZenith! Hoping some of them sink in a little for me,

as I love finding them when I have the time, and it's not nearly possible to just see them and not want to pass them on!

Thank you, very much.