A rogue black hole (also termed a free-floating, nomad, orphan, unbound or wandering black hole) is an interstellar or intergalactic black hole.[2]
Intergalactic rogue black holes
editThese are objects without a host galactic group, caused by collisions between two galaxies or when the merging of two black holes is disrupted. It has been estimated that there could be 12 rogue supermassive black holes on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy.[3]
Interstellar rogue black holes
editExamples
editIn January 2022, a team of astronomers reported of OGLE-2011-BLG-0462/MOA-2011-BLG-191, the first unambiguous detection and mass measurement of an isolated stellar black hole using the Hubble Space Telescope together with the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) and the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE).[4][1][5] This black hole is located 5,000 light-years away, has a mass 7.1 times that of the Sun, and moves at about 45 km/s.[6] While there have been other candidates, they have been detected more indirectly.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Gianopoulos, Andrea (2022-06-07). "Hubble Determines Mass of Isolated Black Hole Roaming Our Milky Way Galaxy". NASA. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
- ^ Whitwam, Ryan (2022-02-08). "Rogue Black Hole Observed for the First Time". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
- ^ Ben Turner (2021-08-27). "Rogue black holes could be wandering at the edges of the Milky Way". LiveScience. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
- ^ Sahu, Kailash C.; et al. (25 May 2022). "An Isolated Stellar-mass Black Hole Detected through Astrometric Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal. 933 (1): 83. arXiv:2201.13296. Bibcode:2022ApJ...933...83S. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac739e. S2CID 246430448.
- ^ Browne, Ed (2022-02-08). "First ever rogue black hole spotted zooming through space at 28 miles per second". Newsweek. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
- ^ Tomaswick, Andy (2022-02-06). "The First Rogue Black Hole has Been Discovered, and it's Only 5,000 Light-Years Away". Universe Today. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
- ^ Bennett, Dave (2000-01-13). "Lone Black Holes Discovered Adrift in the Galaxy". HubbleSite of NASA. Retrieved 2022-06-12.