Astronomy: Evidence of an elusive black hole |

Fast-moving stars have been observed in the Omega Centauri star cluster in the Milky Way. This week's paper suggests that these stars are evidence of intermediate-mass black holes.naturePublished in this conclusion is20These results, based on more than a year of Hubble Space Telescope observations, could aid future searches for this elusive class of black holes.

The black hole is roughly equal in mass to the sun.5–150From black holes with masses twice that of stars to supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies (equal to the mass of the Sun).100000More than once,105 m⊙) It is found in a wide range of audiences. But the sun150from100000Only a few intermediate-mass black holes with masses twice that large have been discovered so far.

Omega Centauri is a promising target for the search for intermediate-mass black holes because of its large mass and complex star population. However, previous claims of black holes in this region have been criticized.Maximilian HaberlThese images were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.20Using a year's worth of images, they were able to observe the movement of stars near the cluster's center. The results,7It turns out that two stars are moving very quickly near the center, which meansOhThis suggests that there is a possible intermediate-mass black hole at the center of Centauri. They put the minimum mass of the black hole at about8,200 cubic metersI believe.

Published alongside this paper.News and opinionsIn the article,Daryl HaggardAndAdrian ColeHe says: “These newly discovered stars areOh“This is the best evidence yet for an intermediate-mass black hole in Centaurus.” This result points to the validity of the search for intermediate-mass black holes in other globular clusters.

Haberl, M., Neumayer, N., Seth, A. And others. Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in ω Centauri. nature 631285–288 (2024).

doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07511-z

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