Scientists Detect, Rogue Black Hole, For the First Time.
For the first time, astronomers believe they have detected and measured the mass of an isolated stellar-mass black hole.
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Space.com reports that until now, all stellar-mass black holes have been detected in binary systems associated with partners like neutron stars.
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When giant stars reach the end of their lifespan they explode in massive supernovae that leave behind black holes.
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There are estimated to be 100 million stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way, according to the new study's lead author Kailash Sahu.
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Sahu, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, says that the majority of stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way appear to be without a binary partner.
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A black hole's interaction with its stellar partner generates light or gravitational waves which allow astronomers to detect them.
This makes black holes that lack a binary partner extremely difficult to detect.
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Now, astronomers have detected an isolated stellar-mass black hole about 5,150 light-years away from earth.
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We now know that isolated black holes exist.
And they have masses similar to the black holes found in binaries.
And there must be lots of them out there, Kailash Sahu, Lead author and astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, via Space.com.
According to the team, the isolated black hole is about 7.1 times the mass of our sun and is traveling through space at about 100,000 mph.
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According to Space.com, this suggests that the black hole may have been propelled by the supernova blast that birthed it.
