Friday, July 3rd, 2009

A New Type Of Black Hole

Artist's impression of HLX-1, represented by the light blue object to the top left of the galactic bulge, near edge-on spiral galaxy ESO 243-49. This is the first strong evidence for the existence of intermediate mass black holes. Credit: Heidi Sagerud.

Researchers may have discovered a new type of black hole, a finding that would mean the massive gravity sinks can exist in a 'medium' size. Previous studies have identified smaller black holes, only a few times the mass of our own sun, and super-massive versions such as that located at the center of the galaxy. Writing this week in the journal Nature, researchers say that about 290 million light-years away in galaxy ESO 243-49, a 'medium' black hole may be found. In this case, 'medium' to astronomers means 'a few hundred or thousand times the mass of our sun.' In this segment, we'll talk with one of the researchers about the work, and its implications for the study of black holes in the universe.