A group of scientists has confirmed the presence of a solitary black hole in the Milky Way galaxy, one that doesn't have a star orbiting it.
The study, published earlier this month in the Astrophysical Journal, uses data from the Hubble Space Telescope to verify the identity of the stellar object previously identified by the team several years ago, reports NDTV.
In 2022, astronomer Kailash Sahu from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and his team discovered a "dark object" moving through the Sagittarius constellation. At the time, their findings were challenged, with some scientists suggesting the object was a neutron star instead.
Despite the controversy, the team continued their research and has now gathered more evidence to support their original hypothesis that the object is likely a solitary black hole. By revisiting data from 2011 to 2017 and incorporating new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia space probe between 2021 and 2022, the researchers were able to make stronger conclusions.
Notably, prior to the current finding, all black holes that scientists have ever identified have been spotted with a companion star. Since black holes 'suck' all the light, it is difficult to spot them, if not for the presence of a companion star due to an effect called gravitational lensing.
However, Mr Sahu and his team managed to notice the black hole after it passed in front of a distant non-companion star, magnifying its light and shifting its position in the sky for a short while.
They found that the 'dark object' they were pursuing was approximately seven times as massive as the sun -- showing that it could not be a neutron star.
The lone black hole is located 5,000 light-years away from Earth, which is much closer than the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, located at the centre of the Milky Way, 27,000 light-years away.
Based on the findings, Mr Sahu and his team are hoping to find more examples, using the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in 2027.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
