April 4, 2018
Astrophysicists are claiming to have confirmed there are about 10,000 black holes at the centre of the galaxy.
A team from Columbia University in New York believe they have proven a decades-old theory that a multitude of smaller black holes surround the "supermassive" black hole at the core of the Milky Way.
April 4, 2018
Astrophysicists are claiming to have confirmed there are about 10,000 black holes at the centre of the galaxy.
A team from Columbia University in New York believe they have proven a decades-old theory that a multitude of smaller black holes surround the "supermassive" black hole at the core of the Milky Way.
Known as Sagittarius A (Sgr A), the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy is surrounded by a halo of gas and dust – believed to be the perfect breeding ground for huge stars that collapse into black holes when they die.
Both these black holes and others from outside the halo are pulled towards Sgr A and held captive around it, scientists believe.
The Columbia University team searched for X-rays from black holes that have captured a passing star in their gravitational grip, known as a "black hole binary".
Using archived data from the Chandra X-ray space telescope, they found evidence of 300 to 500 of these binaries, from which they were able to infer the 10,000 figure.
The university's Dr Chuck Hailey said: "This finding confirms a major theory and the implications are many.
"It is going to significantly advance gravitational wave research because knowing the number of black holes in the centre of a typical galaxy can help in better predicting how many gravitational wave events may be associated with them.
"All the information astrophysicists need is at the centre of the galaxy."
Dr Hailey explained his team chose their research method because finding isolated black holes is hugely difficult.
"Isolated, unmated black holes are just black – they don't do anything," he said. "So looking for isolated black holes is not a smart way to find them."
The findings are reported in the latest issue of Nature journal.
