Hubble Finds New Evidence for Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri

Intermediate-mass black holes are a long-sought “missing link” in black hole evolution. 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. Only a few candidates have been found to date.

Now, a team of astronomers analyzed over 500 images from 20 years of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observations to find evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole by tracking seven fast-moving stars in the Omega Centauri globular star cluster.

Scientists think a massive object is gravitationally pulling on the stars within Omega Centauri, keeping them close to its center. From the motions of the stars, they estimate it has a mass of at least 8,200 times that of our Sun, the mass range for an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole is between 100 and 100,000 solar masses, therefore the only object that can be so massive is a black hole.

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul Morris: Lead Producer

Music Credit:
"A Simpler Time" by Oskari Nurminen [ASCAP] via Universal Publishing Prod. Music Nordic [STIM], and Universal Production Music.

This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14607. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14607. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.

See more Hubble videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuUQ9asub3Ta8mqP5LNiOhOygRzue8kN

Follow NASA's Hubble Space Telescope:
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASAHubble
· X: https://twitter.com/NASAHubble
· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/NASAHubble
· Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahubble

---

If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard

Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc