"On the scale of the Milky Way, it's in our backyard," Thomas Rivinius, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile who led the new research, told me. "Almost on our doorstep."
So if this black hole is, at least in astronomical terms, right there , how has it eluded astronomers for so long?
The astronomers worked out the mass an object must have to jostle the star so much, and their calculations suggested that the object would measure four times the mass of our sun—nearly the same size as the inner star itself. "An object of that mass, you can't hide it," Rivinius said. Unless it's invisible.
In case you are keeping track:
Response to Comment on "A noninteracting low-mass black hole–giant star binary system" | Science
Van den Heuvel and Tauris argue that if the red giant star in the system 2MASS J05215658+4359220 has a mass of 1 solar mass ( M ☉ ), then its unseen companion could be a binary composed of two 0.9 M ☉ stars, making a triple system. We contend that the existing data are most consistent with a giant of mass 3.2 − 1.0 + 1.0 M ☉ , implying a black hole companion of 3.3 − 0.7 + 2.8 M ☉ .
Van den Heuvel and Tauris ( 1 ) posit that the red giant star in the system 2MASS J05215658+4359220 ( 2 ) could have a mass of M giant ≈ 1 M ☉ , and that the unobserved companion could be a normal stellar binary system composed of two 0.9 M ☉ stars. This hypothesis is inconsistent with the measured luminosity L and effective temperature T eff .
Scientists continue to debunk 'monster black hole' and explore the binary system LB1 | Space
Scientists made waves last year after announcing the discovery of a "monster black hole," unlike anything seen before. But, as researchers continue to weigh in, one thing is clear: there is no "monster."
Solar mass black holes, or black holes that form when a star collapses under the influence of its own gravity, are usually about 20-30 times the mass of our sun . So it was breaking news when, in November 2019, scientists led Jifeng Liu of the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported the discovery of a black hole 70 times as massive as our sun .
If Planet Nine Is a Tiny Black Hole, This Is How to Find It | Discover Magazine
For centuries, astronomers have speculated that the solar system contains undiscovered planets that orbit in the distant, dark reaches of the sun's realm. From time to time, they have spotted the gravitational effects of unknown bodies, forcing them to look for the culprit. Both Neptune and Pluto came to light in this way.
Now, astronomers have a similar puzzle on their hands. For some time, they have been gathering evidence that a massive planet must be orbiting the sun at a distance of around 500 astronomical units, or 70 billion kilometers.
This may worth something:
Physics - "Revolution" for Alternative Black Hole Probe
A star that drifts too close to the supermassive black hole at the center of its galaxy can be torn into streams of gas that radiate as brightly as a supernova as they fall toward the black hole. These so-called tidal disruption events (TDEs) can provide a rare probe of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and potentially help answer some long-standing astrophysical questions. In the past 25 years, only about 20 TDE’s have been documented, but that number is about to double.
SMBHs can weigh as much as a few billion Suns, and astrophysicists believe that one resides at the center of every large galaxy. As the galaxy size decreases, the SMBH mass decreases as well, and SMBHs also appear in medium-sized galaxies. But whether this trend extends to “dwarf” galaxies is unclear. These galaxies would harbor black holes weighing less than about a million solar masses, a size that pushes the resolution limits of observations.
Spitzer telescope reveals the precise timing of a black hole dance -- ScienceDaily
Black holes aren't stationary in space; in fact, they can be quite active in their movements. But because they are completely dark and can't be observed directly, they're not easy to study. Scientists have finally figured out the precise timing of a complicated dance between two enormous black holes, revealing hidden details about the physical characteristics of these mysterious cosmic objects.
The OJ 287 galaxy hosts one of the largest black holes ever found, with over 18 billion times the mass of our Sun. Orbiting this behemoth is another black hole with about 150 million times the Sun's mass. Twice every 12 years, the smaller black hole crashes through the enormous disk of gas surrounding its larger companion, creating a flash of light brighter than a trillion stars -- brighter, even, than the entire Milky Way galaxy. The light takes 3.5 billion years to reach Earth.
Beyond The Black Hole: Event Horizon Telescope Solves A Quasar Mystery We Didn't Know Existed
The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration's April 11, 2017 image of the quasar 3C 279's central core ... [+] and the origin of its jet. Note the surprising orientation of the top 'blob,' which possibly represents the first direct observation of a quasar's accretion disk.
Almost exactly one year ago today, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first-ever image of a black hole's event horizon. Its publication marked the first time that we'd ever directly detected a region of space where so much matter was concentrated into such a tiny volume that nothing, not even light, could escape from it.
Astronomers Find The Closest Black Hole To Earth, 1,000 Light-Years Away – CBS DC
Happening on Twitter
Astronomers have found the closest known black hole to Earth! But <DON'T PANIC> it's still ten thousand *trillion… https://t.co/Xy35a47Bv5 BadAstronomer (from Boulder) Wed May 06 14:59:42 +0000 2020
🚨 Astronomers have found a black hole just 1,000 light-years away, which, on cosmic scales, is "almost on our doors… https://t.co/DnV04tq0Rt marinakoren (from Washington, D.C. / The Milky Way) Wed May 06 13:00:00 +0000 2020
Astronomers say they have discovered the closest black hole to Earth, just 1,000 light-years away in a system visib… https://t.co/mAtXSyxF0S sciam (from New York City) Wed May 06 12:38:17 +0000 2020
Astronomers found an intermediate mass black hole — not too big, not too small — that sheds light on how the univer… https://t.co/5pCADydOc1 nytimes (from New York City) Wed May 06 16:00:21 +0000 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment