This image provided by
CU-Boulder shows the galaxy SDSS J1126+2944 taken with the Hubble Space
Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, with an arrow placed by the
source pointing to a black hole that lost most of its stars. The
University of Colorado's Julie Comerford has discovered something even
rarer than a double-black hole galaxy: a skinny black hole. Her findings
were reported Tuesday, Jan 5, 2016 at the American Astronomical
Society's annual meeting.
An astrophysicist has discovered
something even rarer than a double-black hole galaxy: a skinny black
hole.The University of Colorado at Boulder's Julie Comerford reported her findings Tuesday at the American Astronomical Society's annual meeting in Kissimmee, Florida.
To date, only 12 galaxies are known to exist with two black holes in their midst, Comerford said. Normally galaxies have a single supermassive black hole at the center, equivalent to 1 million to 1 billion times the mass of our sun.
But in this newly identified galaxy about 1 billion light-years away, one of the two black holes is significantly smaller than the other and apparently starved of stars. Black holes typically are surrounded by stars; this one appears "naked."
Comerford
speculates the slim black hole lost mass in the collision of two
galaxies that merged into this one —" a crash diet." Or it's a rare
example of an intermediate-sized black hole that likely will morph over
time into a supermassive monster.
Astronomers
have yet to confirm an intermediate-size black hole, which makes
Comerford's streamlined target extra tantalizing. Intermediate black
holes are 100 to 1 million times the mass of our sun.
Comerford
used the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in
her study. She discovered this latest two-black hole galaxy — her
fourth — last year. Finding a potential intermediate-size black hole
inside was "an extra bonus," she told reporters.
The
first double-black hole galaxy was found in 2003 by accident, according
to Comerford. She is trying to systematically uncover more. The
findings should shed light on the evolution of black holes.
This particular galaxy is cataloged as SDSS J1126+2944.
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