Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Young Star Cluster In Disintegrated Galaxy Reveals First-Ever Intermediate Mass Black Hole

Young Star Cluster In Disintegrated Galaxy Reveals First-Ever Intermediate Mass Black Hole:

This spectacular edge-on galaxy, called ESO 243-49, is home to an intermediate-mass black hole that may have been stripped off of a cannibalized dwarf galaxy. Credit: NASA, ESA, and S. Farrell (Sydney Institute for Astronomy, University of Sydney)

Score another first for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope! Along with observations taken with the Swift X-ray telescope, a team of astronomers have identified a young stellar cluster of stars pointing the way towards the first verified intermediate mass black hole. This grouping of stars provides significant indication that black holes of this type may have been at the center of a now shredded dwarf galaxy – a finding which increases our knowledge of galaxy evolution. (...)
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