Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers discovered

a small black hole outside the Milky Way.They studied how it affects the movement of the star in its immediate vicinity. This is the first time this detection method has been used to search for a black hole outside our galaxy. As the scientists who conducted the study note, it will be useful for searching for hidden black holes in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and will also help understand how these mysterious objects form and develop.

Black hole discovered in NGC star cluster1850. It is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way, about 160 thousand light years from Earth. The black hole turned out to be 11 times more massive than the Sun. It was discovered by the gravitational influence it exerted on its companion star (five times more massive than the Sun). For comparison, the mass of a supermassive black hole, according to various estimates, ranges from 2 to 5 million solar.

Previously, astronomers had discovered such smallblack holes in other galaxies by detecting the X-ray glow emitted when they consume matter, or by monitoring the gravitational waves that are produced when black holes collide with each other or with neutron stars.

However, this method is not always suitable, oftena black hole can only be detected dynamically. When it forms a system with a star, it will affect its movement. It can be detected with sophisticated instruments.

The results of the study are published Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers discovered(more…)