Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have proposed a way to test the existence
Leo I is a dwarf elliptical galaxywhich belongs to the Local Group and is considered a satellite of the Milky Way. This galaxy has almost no young stars and star-forming material, which is why it is often referred to as a "fossil". Cosmic observations of the movement of stars indicate that a supermassive black hole, comparable in size to Sagittarius A * - the one that is located in the center of our Galaxy, should be located in the center of this galaxy.
The dwarf galaxy Leo I is a faint object to the right of the bright star Regulus. Image: Scott AnttilaAnttler, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Although the movements of the stars show that in the centerSince the dwarf galaxy must contain a massive object, this black hole has not yet been directly observed. Leo I is so devoid of gas that could accrete onto a black hole that it simply has nothing to radiate, the scientists explain.
At least that's what it used to be.In the new paper, the scientists suggested that the small amount of mass lost due to stars roaming around the black hole could provide the accretion rate needed to observe it.
The researchers note that at the center of the galaxyLeo I, there are a large number of old stars - red giants. Such stars usually have strong winds that carry some of their mass into the environment. Astrophysicists propose using the radiation from this stellar wind to observe the accretion of material onto a black hole. The researchers will use data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Array radio telescope to confirm their hypothesis.
Watching Leo I* could be a breakthrough.It will be the second closest supermassive black hole after the one at the center of our galaxy, with a very similar mass but located in a galaxy a thousand times less massive than the Milky Way.
Avi Loeb, study co-author
Read more:
Created a navigation system that is more accurate than GPS
Look at the result of a "head-on collision" of two galaxies: this is a very rare occurrence.
Named the main danger of the lunar mission "Artemis"
On the cover: the sparse structure of the Leo I dwarf galaxy, through which other deep space objects can be observed. Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Judy Schmidt