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.
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