Hubble: Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole

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bystander
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Hubble: Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole

Post by bystander » Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:49 pm

Hubble Finds Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole
ESA Hubble Science Release | 2020 Mar 31
New data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have provided the strongest evidence yet for mid-sized black holes in the Universe. Hubble confirms that this “intermediate-mass” black hole dwells inside a dense star cluster.

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are a long-sought “missing link” in black hole evolution. There have been a few other IMBH candidates found to date. They are smaller than the supermassive black holes that lie at the cores of large galaxies, but larger than stellar-mass black holes formed by the collapse of massive stars. This new black hole is over 50 000 times the mass of our Sun. ...

IMBHs are hard to find. “Intermediate-mass black holes are very elusive objects, and so it is critical to carefully consider and rule out alternative explanations for each candidate. That is what Hubble has allowed us to do for our candidate,” said Dacheng Lin ...

Lin and his team used Hubble to follow up on leads from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton), which carries three high-throughput X-ray telescopes and an optical monitor to make long uninterrupted exposures providing highly sensitive observations. ...

In 2006 these high-energy satellites detected a powerful flare of X-rays, but it was not clear if they originated from inside or outside of our galaxy. Researchers attributed it to a star being torn apart after coming too close to a gravitationally powerful compact object, like a black hole. ...

Hubble Finds Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole
NASA | GSFC | STScI | HubbleSite | 2020 Mar 31

Multiwavelength Follow-up of the Hyperluminous Intermediate-Mass
Black Hole Candidate 3XMM J215022.4-055108
~ Dacheng Lin et al
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Last edited by bystander on Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: added ApJL link and link back to previous CXC article and astrobite
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Ann
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Re: Hubble: Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole

Post by Ann » Tue Mar 31, 2020 7:25 pm

bystander wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:49 pm Hubble Finds Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole
ESA Hubble Science Release | 2020 Mar 31
New data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have provided the strongest evidence yet for mid-sized black holes in the Universe. Hubble confirms that this “intermediate-mass” black hole dwells inside a dense star cluster.

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are a long-sought “missing link” in black hole evolution. There have been a few other IMBH candidates found to date. They are smaller than the supermassive black holes that lie at the cores of large galaxies, but larger than stellar-mass black holes formed by the collapse of massive stars. This new black hole is over 50 000 times the mass of our Sun. ...

IMBHs are hard to find. “Intermediate-mass black holes are very elusive objects, and so it is critical to carefully consider and rule out alternative explanations for each candidate. That is what Hubble has allowed us to do for our candidate,” said Dacheng Lin ...

Lin and his team used Hubble to follow up on leads from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton), which carries three high-throughput X-ray telescopes and an optical monitor to make long uninterrupted exposures providing highly sensitive observations. ...

In 2006 these high-energy satellites detected a powerful flare of X-rays, but it was not clear if they originated from inside or outside of our galaxy. Researchers attributed it to a star being torn apart after coming too close to a gravitationally powerful compact object, like a black hole. ...

Hubble Finds Best Evidence for Elusive Mid-Size Black Hole
NASA | GSFC | STScI | HubbleSite | 2020 Mar 31

Multiwavelength Follow-up of the Hyperluminous Intermediate-Mass
Black Hole Candidate 3XMM J215022.4-055108
~ Dacheng Lin et al
I would have loved to know more about the galaxy whose tidal forces might have helped create the star cluster that hosts the intermediate mass black hole, 3XMM J215022.4−055108. Perhaps the galaxy does not have a designation. But the juxtaposition of a large lenticular or elliptical galaxy, a smaller spiral galaxy and a tiny dwarf galaxy containing an interesting black hole reminds me of giant elliptical galaxy M60, small spiral galaxy NGC 4647 and tiny ultra-compact dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1.

The huge difference between 3XMM J215022.4−055108 and M60-UCD1 is that the latter contains a truly supermassive black hole, which makes up 15% of the galaxy's mass and weighs five times as much as the central black hole of the Milky Way - that would be some 20 million solar masses - whereas the black hole 3XMM J215022.4−055108 only weighs some 50.000 solar masses. The difference is enormous.

Large massive Andromeda galaxy and ultra-compact dwarf galaxy M32.
Photo: Wikisky.











But the galactic configurations are interestingly similar in both cases. And I suspect that both 3XMM J215022.4−055108 and M60-UCD1 may be stripped-down galactic cores, whose outer parts were stolen by a massive bully of neighboring galaxy.

Just like the fate that befell hapless dwarf galaxy M32 when the big bully that we call the Andromeda Galaxy came too close.

Ann
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