{"id":26720,"date":"2024-04-16T10:48:47","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T14:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26720"},"modified":"2024-04-16T10:48:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T14:48:08","slug":"eso-most-massive-stellar-black-hole-in-the-milky-way-discovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26720","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Most massive stellar black hole in the Milky Way discovered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new report from the European Southern Observatory (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/eso2408\/?lang\">ESO<\/a>):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/eso2408\/?lang\"><strong>Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26721\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26721\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/eso2408a\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26721\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=26721\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1000,688\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Artist&amp;#8217;s Rendering of Largest Milky Way Black Hole\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Astronomers have found the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy, thanks to the wobbling motion it induces on a companion star. This artist\u2019s impression shows the orbits of both the star and the black hole, dubbed Gaia BH3, around their common centre of mass. This wobbling was measured over several years with the European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia mission. Additional data from other telescopes, including ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope in Chile, confirmed that the mass of this black hole is 33 times that of our Sun. The chemical composition of the companion star suggests that the black hole was formed after the collapse of a massive star with very few heavy elements, or metals, as predicted by theory. Credit: ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26721\" src=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688-500x344.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688-500x344.jpg 500w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688-768x528.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26721\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Astronomers have found the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy, thanks to the wobbling motion it induces on a companion star. This artist\u2019s impression shows the orbits of both the star and the black hole, dubbed Gaia BH3, around their common centre of mass. This wobbling was measured over several years with the European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia mission. Additional data from other telescopes, including ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope in Chile, confirmed that the mass of this black hole is 33 times that of our Sun. The chemical composition of the companion star suggests that the black hole was formed after the collapse of a massive star with very few heavy elements, or metals, as predicted by theory. Credit: ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia mission because it imposes an odd \u2018wobbling\u2019 motion on the companion star orbiting it. Data from the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (ESO\u2019s VLT) and other ground-based observatories were used to verify the mass of the black hole, putting it at an impressive 33 times that of the Sun.<\/p>\n<p>Stellar black holes are formed from the collapse of massive stars and the ones previously identified in the Milky Way are on average about 10 times as massive as the Sun. Even the next most massive stellar black hole known in our galaxy, Cygnus X-1, only reaches 21 solar masses, making this new 33-solar-mass observation exceptional <a href=\"#1\">[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DutMRUEahb8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Remarkably, this black hole is also extremely close to us \u2014 at a mere 2000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila, it is the second-closest known black hole to Earth. Dubbed Gaia BH3 or BH3 for short, it was found while the team were reviewing Gaia observations in preparation for an upcoming data release.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>\u201cNo one was expecting to find a high-mass black hole lurking nearby, undetected so far,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>says Gaia collaboration member Pasquale Panuzzo, an astronomer from the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Observatoire de Paris &#8211; PSL, France.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>&#8220;This is the kind of discovery you make once in your research life.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To confirm their discovery, the Gaia collaboration used data from ground-based observatories, including from the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/paranal-observatory\/vlt\/vlt-instr\/uves\/\">UVES<\/a>) instrument on ESO\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/paranal-observatory\/vlt\/\"> VLT<\/a>, located in Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert <a href=\"#2\">[2]<\/a>. These observations revealed key properties of the companion star, which, together with Gaia data, allowed astronomers to precisely measure the mass of BH3.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qBWLv2uXMzE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Astronomers have found similarly massive black holes outside our galaxy (using a different <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/First_observation_of_gravitational_waves\">detection method<\/a>), and have theorised that they may form from the collapse of stars with very few elements heavier than hydrogen and helium in their chemical composition. These so-called metal-poor stars are thought to lose less mass over their lifetimes and hence have more material left over to produce high-mass black holes after their death. But evidence directly linking metal-poor stars to high-mass black holes has been lacking until now.<\/p>\n<p>Stars in pairs tend to have similar compositions, meaning that BH3\u2019s companion holds important clues about the star that collapsed to form this exceptional black hole. UVES data showed that the companion was a very metal-poor star, indicating that the star that collapsed to form BH3 was also metal-poor \u2014 just as predicted.<\/p>\n<p>The research study, led by Panuzzo, is published today in <em>Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>\u201cWe took the exceptional step of publishing this paper based on preliminary data ahead of the forthcoming Gaia release because of the unique nature of the discovery,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>says co-author Elisabetta Caffau, also a Gaia collaboration member and CNRS scientist from the Observatoire de Paris &#8211; PSL. Making the data available early will let other astronomers start studying this black hole right now, without waiting for the full data release, planned for late 2025 at the earliest.<\/p>\n<p>Further observations of this system could reveal more about its history and about the black hole itself. The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/paranal-observatory\/vlt\/vlt-instr\/gravity\/\"> GRAVITY<\/a> instrument on ESO\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/paranal-observatory\/vlt\/vlti\/\"> VLT Interferometer<\/a>, for example, could help astronomers find out whether this black hole is pulling in matter from its surroundings and better understand this exciting object.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"anchor\" name=\"1\"><\/a>[1] This is not the most massive black hole in our galaxy \u2014 that title belongs to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way\u2019s centre, which has about four million times the mass of the Sun. But Gaia BH3 is the most massive black hole known in the Milky Way that formed from the collapse of a star.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"anchor\" name=\"2\"><\/a>[2] Aside from UVES on ESO\u2019s VLT, the study relied on data from: the HERMES spectrograph at the Mercator Telescope operated at La Palma (Spain) by Leuven University, Belgium, in collaboration with the Observatory of the University of Geneva, Switzerland; and the SOPHIE high-precision spectrograph at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence \u2013 OSU Institut Pyth\u00e9as.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/archives\/releases\/sciencepapers\/eso2408\/eso2408a-panuzzo-et-al.pdf\">Research paper<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/archive\/category\/paranal\/\">Photos of the VLT<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esa.int\/Science_Exploration\/Space_Science\/Gaia\/Sleeping_giant_surprises_Gaia_scientists\">ESA news article on this research<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/outreach\/pressmedia\/#epodpress_form\">For journalists: subscribe to receive our releases under embargo in your language<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/pitch-your-research\/\">For scientists: got a story? Pitch your research<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>===<\/em><strong><em> Amazon Ads <\/em><\/strong><em>===<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ihq7zn\">Celestron &#8211; NexStar 130SLT Computerized Telescope &#8211;<br \/>\nCompact and Portable &#8211;<br \/>\nNewtonian Reflector Optical Design &#8211;<br \/>\nSkyAlign Technology &#8211;<br \/>\nComputerized Hand Control &#8211;<br \/>\n130mm Aperture<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe style=\"width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=as_ss_li_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=hobbyspace&amp;language=en_US&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=B0007UQNNQ&amp;asins=B0007UQNNQ&amp;linkId=075d3255a406b73a3bba790b9e5a30e4&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>====<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3lWVbb7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An Infinity of Worlds:<br \/>\nCosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe style=\"width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ss&amp;ref=as_ss_li_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=hobbyspace&amp;language=en_US&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=0262046482&amp;asins=0262046482&amp;linkId=440b79aeded8e2b3c3aa07a43f3a0e7f&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia mission because it imposes an odd \u2018wobbling\u2019 motion &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26720\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">ESO: Most massive stellar black hole in the Milky Way discovered<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy","category-education","category-space-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-6WY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25235,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=25235","url_meta":{"origin":26720,"position":0},"title":"ESO: Dormant black hole discovered outside our galaxy","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A new paper from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): 'Black hole police' discover a dormant black hole outside our galaxy A team of international experts, renowned for debunking several black hole discoveries, have found a stellar-mass black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbour galaxy to our own. \"For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eso2210a1-500x313.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15472,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15472","url_meta":{"origin":26720,"position":1},"title":"ESO: Unusual movement of star indicates orbit around black hole four times mass of Sun","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): Odd Behaviour of Star Reveals Lonely Black Hole Hiding in Giant Star Cluster Astronomers using ESO\u2019s MUSE instrument on the Very Large Telescope in Chile have discovered a star in the cluster NGC 3201 that is behaving very strangely. 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