(ORDO NEWS) — The giant black hole discovered by scientists from Alabama in Huntsville is located next to the solar system by cosmic standards, namely at 1454 light years or 474 parsecs.
The stellar mass of the hole is 12 times that of the Sun. Our planet has nothing to fear , for now. Unless the danger is discovered even closer.
Astronomers claim that this black hole is located closer to the solar system than all previously discovered objects. They came to this conclusion after analyzing the Data Release 3 (DR3) binary system catalog.
Astronomers made the discovery by accident, at first their attention was drawn to a system where a star of the main sequence of the spectral class revolved around the object in an orbit, and made a complete revolution around it in 185 days.
It turned out that the energy, showing the dependence on the wavelength of light, came only from this rotating star. No other sources of radiation were detected.
Later, the radial velocity of the star was measured at the Lika observatory using the Keck telescope and other instruments. After that, it became clear that it revolves around a giant invisible object.
Scientists assume that once this star rotated as part of a triple system. Then the two stars died and merged into one black hole.
The main sequence star of the spectral class is approximately 7.1+ – 38 billion years old. Eventually, this hole will expand and swallow its only star.
Researchers said that there are about 1 million such objects in the Milky Way. It is simply impossible to calculate the exact amount, even with the presence of ultra-precise equipment.
Black holes in binary systems are especially visible when they begin to be fed by a neighboring star, then they emit X-rays, so they are easy to detect.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.