Astronomers confirm intermediate-mass black hole in Andromeda galaxy (2024)

FAQs

How do astronomers define an intermediate-mass black hole? ›

An intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) is a class of black hole with mass in the range 10²–10⁵ solar masses: significantly more than stellar black holes but less than the 10⁵–10⁹ solar mass supermassive black holes.

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, is called M31* or P2. The exact mass of M31* is still a subject of ongoing research, but estimates suggest that its mass is around 1.1 to 2.3 million solar masses.

Thanks to the two powerful space telescope the team has discovered that the black hole at the centre of Andromeda feeds by way of long filaments of dust and gas, starting some way from the centre of the galaxy.

For example, the mass of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy was calculated by measuring the speeds of individual stars that orbit around it. This showed that the black hole is three million times more massive than our Sun.

Intermediate-mass black holes are thought to form when multiple stellar-mass black holes undergo a series of mergers with one another. These mergers frequently happen in crowded areas of galaxies. Merging stellar-mass black holes spend a very long time in the early stages of their mating dance.

A few decades ago, intermediate black holes were thought to not exist at all. However, recent observations seem to suggest that intermediate black holes may exist but are very rare. There may be many reasons why intermediate black holes are very rare, but one reason is likely the most important.

Making that ~58x mass difference even more remarkable is the fact that Andromeda only has between 2.5 and ten times more stars than the Milky Way, so its black hole much bigger in proportion.

Seven of the 35 black hole candidates are within only 1,000 light years of the Andromeda Galaxy's center. This is more than the number of black hole candidates with similar properties located near the center of our own Galaxy.

The Milky Way and Andromeda each contain a central supermassive black hole. These black holes will eventually spiral into one another and converge near the center of the newly formed galaxy over a period that may take millions of years.

Andromeda is larger than the Milky Way in terms of the distance it extends. However, the two galaxies are roughly comparable in mass, and it's hard to say which one is more massive.

What is the biggest black hole in the universe? ›

The supermassive black hole system is located in elliptical galaxy B2 0402+379. Together, the two black holes have a joint mass that is 28 billion times larger than that of the sun, making this the most massive black hole binary ever seen.

The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It is likely the sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.

If you leapt heroically into a stellar-mass black hole, your body would be subjected to a process called 'spaghettification' (no, really, it is). The black hole's gravity force would compress you from top to toe, while stretching you at the same time… thus, spaghetti.

They discovered a radio source that emits synchrotron radiation; it was found to be dense and immobile because of its gravitation. This was, therefore, the first indication that a supermassive black hole exists in the center of the Milky Way.

The next higher category, intermediate-mass stars, have masses from 2 to 8 solar masses. The lives of these stars really is not so different from low-mass stars, so we will discuss both low- and intermediate-mass stars together. These stars typically end up as white dwarf stars.

In one theorized formation channel, IMBHs are the seeds for supermassive black holes in the early universe. As a result, IMBHs are predicted to exist in the local universe in dwarf galaxies, as well as wandering in more massive galaxy halos.

Recently, the mass of a black hole in a nearby elliptical galaxy was measured by tracing the velocities of gas traced by the carbon monoxide (CO) molecule using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile.