NAOJ: Signs of Second-Largest Black Hole in the Milky Way

[bystander]

Signs of Second-Largest Black Hole in the Milky Way
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan | 2016 Jan 15

Possible Missing Link in Black Hole Evolution

[img3="Artist’s impression of the clouds scattered by an intermediate mass black hole."]http://www.nao.ac.jp/en/contents/news/s ... o-fig4.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

Astronomers using the Nobeyama 45-m Radio Telescope have detected signs of an invisible black hole with a mass of 100 thousand times the mass of the Sun around the center of the Milky Way. The team assumes that this possible “intermediate mass” black hole is a key to understanding the birth of the supermassive black holes located in the centers of galaxies.

A team of astronomers led by Tomoharu Oka, a professor at Keio University in Japan, has found an enigmatic gas cloud, called CO-0.40-0.22, only 200 light years away from the center of the Milky Way. What makes CO-0.40-0.22 unusual is its surprisingly wide velocity dispersion: the cloud contains gas with a very wide range of speeds. The team found this mysterious feature with two radio telescopes, the Nobeyama 45-m Telescope in Japan and the ASTE Telescope in Chile, both operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

To investigate the detailed structure, the team observed CO-0.40-0.22 with the Nobeyama 45-m Telescope again to obtain 21 emission lines from 18 molecules. The results show that the cloud has an elliptical shape and consists of two components: a compact but low density component with a very wide velocity dispersion of 100 km/s, and a dense component extending 10 light years with a narrow velocity dispersion.

What makes this velocity dispersion so wide? There are no holes inside of the cloud. Also, X-ray and infrared observations did not find any compact objects. These features indicate that the velocity dispersion is not caused by a local energy input, such as supernova explosions. ...

Signature of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in the Central Molecular Zone of Our Galaxy - Tomoharu Oka et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 816(1):L7 (2016 Jan 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/816/1/L7
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1512.04661 > 15 Dec 2015

[neufer]

The first runner up is CO-0.40-0.22 This is exactly what’s on the card. I will take responsibility for this, it was my mistake, it was on the card. Horrible mistake but the right thing, I can show it to you right here. It is my mistake. We feel so badly but it’s still a great night. Thank you all.

[Beyond]

Sometimes this thread is a really big shew.