Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery, spotting a lone black hole drifting through the Milky Way without any orbiting stars. The massive object, seven times more massive than our sun, was detected using an unlikely method: gravitational lensing.
Gravitational lensing is an effect caused by warped spacetime around dense objects like black holes or large galaxy clusters. When light passes near these objects, it bends and changes direction, allowing astronomers to detect their presence.
In 2022, researchers from the University of St Andrews used data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia space probe to spot the warping caused by a lone black hole in the Sagittarius constellation. The object was estimated to be about 5,000 light years away from Earth.
Initially, some research groups contested the findings, suggesting that the object might not be a black hole but rather a neutron star. However, new observations using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia space probe provided stronger evidence that the lens was indeed a black hole around seven times the mass of the sun.
The researchers also found that the black hole was moving at an impressive 51 kilometres per second relative to the surrounding stars. This information sheds light on the object’s formation, suggesting it received a “natal kick” during its birth in a lopsided supernova explosion.
This remarkable discovery opens up new possibilities for detecting lone black holes using future telescopes, including the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope scheduled to launch in 2027.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14631421/Scientists-spot-lone-black-hole-space.html