Newly discovered black hole near the center of the galaxy could be another ‘missing link’
Recently, a team of international researchers at the University of Cologne in Germany uncovered one of the most uncommon types of black holes in the universe. While studying a group of stars near the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A (Sgr A) at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, they detected indications of an intermediate-mass black hole. NASA has described this type of black hole as the “missing link” in the study of black holes.
Black holes vary in size from supermassive to primordial, and the intermediate form is above primordial in size. They are believed to have formed just after the Big Bang and act as “seeds” in the creation of supermassive black holes.
A cluster of stars believed to be the latest intermediate-mass black hole, called IRS 13, moved in an orderly fashion when they expected them to be randomly arranged. The researchers concluded that the star cluster must have interacted with a supermassive black hole and “something must be inside the cluster to maintain its observed compact shape,” according to a statement from the University of Cologne.
Additional observations of the intermediate black hole are planned. They use the James Webb Space Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescope currently under construction in Chile (and yes, that’s its real name).
Scientists discovered the first intermediate-mass black hole in 2020 using the Hubble Space Telescope when they detected the waves generated by its formation. Until then, intermediate-mass black holes were considered the “missing link” between stellar mass and supermassive black holes, and could provide more insights into the formation of black holes and the universe.
