2024-07-20 07:39:29
At present, scientists distinguish three main types of black holes in the Universe:
- Stellar mass black holesformed after the end of the life of massive stars.
- Intermediate mass black holeswhich likely formed shortly after the Big Bang and became the basis for supermassive black holes through their mergers.
- Supermassive black holeslocated at the centers of most, and possibly all, galaxies.
Although astronomers are actively searching for intermediate-mass black holes, fewer than ten potential candidates have been discovered so far. In their study, the authors believe they have found another intermediate-mass black hole located at the center of the Milky Way.
The star cluster IRS 13 that the astronomers observed is located just 0.1 light-years from the center of our galaxy, where the black hole Sagittarius A* resides. Although this distance is small in cosmic terms, it is equivalent to traveling back and forth from one end of the solar system to the other 20 times.
Based on observations made with space and ground-based telescopes, scientists believe that the star cluster IRS 13 is home to an intermediate-mass black hole. Its gravitational influence is thought to be responsible for the cluster’s compact shape.
The authors of the study believe that the star cluster IRS 13 plays a key role in the formation and growth of the central black hole in our galaxy. Although this cluster was discovered almost 20 years ago, it continues to surprise scientists with new findings and discoveries.
Earlier, Cursor wrote that researchers working on an article for the journal Physical Review Letters came to the conclusion that the creation of a black hole solely using photon energy is impossible.
2024-07-20 07:39:29