Free Republic

Enlarge ImageOutlier. Astronomers think they have found an intermediate-mass black hole (bright blue object) just outside a distant galaxy. Credit: Heidi Sagerud Heavyweight and lightweight black holes abound in the universe, but nobody has detected a middleweight--and some scientists argue they don't exist. Now, astronomers say they have found the first conclusive evidence for one of these elusive objects at the fringe of a distant galaxy. Estimated to be at least 500 times more massive than the sun, the discovery could plug a large gap in the cosmic menagerie, though it leaves unanswered questions about this type of black...