Intermediate-mass black holes in the mass range between 100 and 100,000 solar masses are the missing link between stellar-mass black holes and super massive black holes. Despite significant observational and theoretical efforts, the existence of intermediate-mass black holes is still debated.
Astronomers know that small black holes — black holes ranging from 10 times to 100 times the Sun’s mass — are the remnants of dying stars, and that supermassive black holes, more than 1,000,000 times the mass of the Sun, inhabit the centers of most galaxies.
But scattered across the Universe are a few apparent black holes of a more mysterious type.
Ranging from 100 to 10,000 solar masses, these intermediate-mass black holes are so hard to measure that even their existence is sometimes disputed.
“If they exist, intermediate-mass black holes likely devour wayward stars like a messy toddler — taking a few bites and then flinging the remains across our Galaxy,” said study first author Fulya Kıroğlu, a graduate student at Northwestern University.
In new 3D computer simulations, Kıroğlu and her colleagues modeled black holes of varying masses and then hurled stars — about the size of our Sun past them to see what might happen.
When a star approaches an intermediate-mass black hole, it initially gets caught in the black hole’s orbit.
After that, the black hole begins its lengthy and violent meal.
Every time the star makes a lap, the black hole takes a bite — further cannibalizing the star with each passage.
Eventually, nothing is left but the star’s misshapen and incredibly dense core.
At that point, the black hole ejects the remains. The star’s remnant flies to safety across the Galaxy.
Not only do these new simulations hint at the unknown behaviors of intermediate-mass black holes, they also provide astronomers with new clues to help finally pinpoint these hidden giants within our night sky.
“We obviously cannot observe black holes directly…
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