A team of Japanese researchers led by Miyuki Kaneko from Keio University used data from the telescope
Curved shape of a cloud of molecular gas in the formthe tadpole is evidence that it stretches as it orbits a massive, compact object. The only problem is that there are no bright objects in the center of the tadpole's orbit that could be massive enough to hold it gravitationally. The best candidate for this massive, compact, invisible object is a black hole.
Illustration of the space "tadpole"
Because black holes don't emit light,the only way to detect them is when they interact with other objects. This leaves astronomers in the dark about how many black holes, and at what range of masses, might be lurking in the Milky Way.
Now the team plans to use ALMA,a set of radio telescopes located in Chile's Atacama Desert to look for faint signs of a black hole or other object in the gravitational center of a tadpole's orbit.
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