Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Intermediate Black Hole Evidence | Hubble

Star Cluster Omega Centauri: Intermediate Black Hole Evidence | Hubble

Globular Star Cluster Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri (cropped)

Location of intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) Omega Centauri

An international team of astronomers has used more than 500 images from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope spanning two decades to detect seven fast-moving stars in the innermost region of Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. These stars provide compelling new evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole.

Omega Centauri is visible from Earth with the naked eye and is one of the favorite celestial objects for stargazers in the southern hemisphere. Although the cluster is 17,700 light-years away, lying just above the plane of the Milky Way, it appears almost as large as the full Moon when seen from a dark rural area. The exact classification of Omega Centauri has evolved through time, as our ability to study it has improved. It was first listed in Ptolemy's catalog nearly two thousand years ago as a single star. Edmond Halley reported it as a nebula in 1677, and in the 1830s the English astronomer John Herschel was the first to recognize it as a globular cluster. Omega Centauri consists of roughly 10 million stars that are gravitationally bound.

Science Paper: 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07511-z

Image Description: A globular cluster, appearing as a highly dense and numerous collection of shining stars. A number appear a bit larger and brighter than others with the majority of stars appearing blue and orange. They are scattered mostly uniformly, but in the center they crowd together more and more densely, and merge into a stronger glow at the cluster’s core.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA)

Release Date: July 10, 2024

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