Astronomers Find Massive Black Hole in Galaxy

Reuters ^ | 11/28/2001 2:56 pm ET | Reuters

[mdittmar]

LONDON (Reuters) - Astronomers have calculated the mass of the heaviest stellar black hole in our galaxy in a discovery that turns the accepted theory of how such objects are formed and behave on its head. Scientists at the Astrophysical Institute in Potsdam, Germany, and the European Southern Observatory in Chile said the huge black hole has 14 times more mass than the Sun and is in a remote area of the Milky Way almost 40,000 light-years away.

A light year is about six trillion miles.

The black hole and the star that revolves around it and feeds it are in the stellar system called GRS1915+105.

Black holes suck in everything near them including light and can only be detected by the activity around their edges. Stellar black holes, the remnants of dead Sun-like stars, typically have the mass of three to seven Suns.

"The one that I found is 14," Jochen Greiner, of the Astrophysical Institute, said in a telephone interview.

Greiner and his colleagues identified the star that feeds the black hole by studying the steady flow of stellar material. In research reported in the science journal Nature, they estimated the mass of the black hole by analyzing the orbital motion of the star around it.

The distance between the star and the black hole is about half the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

The size of GRS1915+105, which astronomers have dubbed a microquasar, has cast doubt over the theories on how black holes are formed.

Scientists consider microquasars, binary systems consisting of a normal star and a black hole or neutron star, as natural laboratories for testing Einstein's general theory of relativity.

GRS1915+105 is one of a handful of microquasars in our galaxy. Scientists are puzzled by the size of the black hole because the interaction in a binary system increases the mass loss of the star and they don't know how it can retain enough mass to form such a massive black hole.

"The big mystery now is how can theory explain these 14 solar masses which I have measured," said Greiner.

"The present theory cannot explain how to produce such large masses," he added.

[mdittmar]

DA DUN ,DADUN,DADUN,DADUN..

[Jack Wilson]

This might be where all my socks went.

[Darth Reagan]

black holes suck

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Bill Clinton's Harlem office?

[Physicist]

Scientists are puzzled by the size of the black hole because the interaction in a binary system increases the mass loss of the star and they don't know how it can retain enough mass to form such a massive black hole.

I can't make heads or tails of this sentence, and it's the key to the whole article.

[Tai_Chung]

Al Gore invented black holes

[My2Cents]

Clearly, the black hole existed before it drifted into the star system it's now in. It's feeding off of the current star (the "binary system" made up of the star and the black hole), but this current star is likely only the black hole's current victim. To be as massive as it seems, it must have devoured other stars in its path. That's probably the simplest, and most likely explanation.

[Tarzantheape]

Black holes are created upon the collapse of a populated planet. This can only occur once it has been completely taken over by liberals....

Now, do I get the Nobel Peace Prize?...or does someone want to wait and see if I'm right?

[borntodiefree]

I bet it is just a reflection of Hillarys Butt where she finally pulled her head out!!!

[geege]

I guess we're all doomed:^)

[TopQuark]

The present theory cannot explain how to produce such large masses," he added.

Maybe neutrinos are not exactly massless, after all?
(Just kidding, don't flame me)

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

because the sentence seems to contradict itself??

Increase the mass loss of the star (the exising star?)

vs.

how it can retain enough mass to form such a massive black hole. ("it" being the black hole)

[Tai_Chung]

We are the Borg.

Resistance is Futile

[LJLucido]

Black holes are caused by global warming. And second hand smoke. Isn't it obvious? We must ban SUV's and cigarettes now!

[PatrickHenry]

Black hole alert.

[dead]

It is a very stupid sentence. Am I correct in stating that there is no limit to the mass of a black hole?

If that's the case, it can suck in as much as it damn well pleases. Like the government.

[Lee'sGhost]

"Clearly, the black hole existed before it drifted into the star system it's now in. It's feeding off of the current star (the "binary system" made up of the star and the black hole), but this current star is likely only the black hole's current victim. To be as massive as it seems, it must have devoured other stars in its path. That's probably the simplest, and most likely explanation."

Sounds a lot like the plot to one of the original Star Trek episodes.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

I would think that it is extremely unlikely (even on an astronomical scale) that a wandering black hole would just perfectly approach a small star, so that they would end up in such a binary configuration, ie without the orbit decaying rapidly. Just my thoughts...

[rebelsoldier]

I can't believe the racism rampant here on these posts. These aren't "black holes", they should be referred to as African-American holes.

[Lee'sGhost]

If you are Jeri Ryan resistance isn't even on my list of options.