The first “dormant” stellar-mass black hole seen orbiting a star in a nearby galaxy was found on Monday by a team of astronomers known for disproving earlier theories about black holes.
Though it is believed that there are many of these black holes in the universe, their location has proven challenging, and they have turned down a number of possibilities in recent years.
According to Tomer Shenar, an astronomer at the University of Amsterdam and the lead author of a recent study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the worldwide team has now discovered a “needle in a haystack.”
The group was looking for a potential binary black hole, which is formed when two black holes orbit one another after a supernova explosion has sucked their stars into them.
“We found a quite massive star, that weighs 25 times the mass of our Sun, that is orbiting around something that we do not see,” Shenar said.
They contend that the blue star, which is located in the Milky Way’s neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, is engaged in a death dance with a black hole that is nine times as massive as the Sun.
As they gather matter from their companion star, these black holes typically release X-ray radiation that may be seen.
However, this binary system, also known as VFTS 243, is referred to as dormant since it does not release X-rays and is not sufficiently close to its star to absorb matter.
The Milky Way alone is expected to contain over 100 million stellar-mass black holes, which are significantly smaller than their supermassive big brothers. This information was provided by Hugues Sana, an astrophysicist at the KU Leuven University in Belgium.
However, according to Sana, a research co-author, only 10 have been located.
It’s possible that many of them are inactive and waiting to someday consume their companion star.
According to Sana, witnessing them was similar to watching two people dance in a pitch-black room, one wearing white and the other black. Despite the fact that you may only see one dancer, you are aware of her presence.
To read our blog on “What Happened If You Fall into a Black Hole?” click here.
