Rare Black Hole Discovered Near The Center Of Milky Way
Scientists from the University of Cologne have found evidence for the existence of an intermediate-mass black hole in the compact star cluster IRS 13 near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This discovery could fill an important gap in our understanding of black hole evolution.
The IRS 13 cluster is located next to the 4.3 million solar mass black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), located at the center of the Milky Way. The black hole Sagittarius A* should have influenced the trajectory of the stars in the IRS 13 cluster and torn it apart. However, this does not happen, which led scientists to suspect the existence of some kind of “cementing” center near the cluster.
Analysis of the motion of stars in IRS 13 and modeling showed that in the middle of the cluster there may be a compact invisible object with a mass of 30 thousand solar. Since there are no sufficiently reliably confirmed black holes in the mass range from 100 to 100 thousand solar masses, the confident discovery of an object with a mass of 30 thousand solar masses promises to be a significant event in astronomy. This may be the first confirmed intermediate-mass black hole, which is guaranteed not to have arisen from a supernova explosion or from the merger of two stellar cores. She had to feed and evolve in the normal way to grow to a measurable mass.
If the existence of this black hole is confirmed, it will not only indicate a critical stage in the development of the black hole, but will also confirm the theory that black holes grow gradually, feeding and evolving over time. Scientists even suggest that it may be swallowed up by the black hole Sgr A* in the future.
