JAKARTA – Telescope NASA’s Hubble space probe has reportedly identified for the first time what may be a black hole, and it’s moving.
Astronomers estimate the black hole is about 5,000 light-years away and moving between 67,000 and 100,000 miles per hour.
“Regarding this discovery, we are consistent with theoretical calculations showing that there should be about 100 million black holes in our galaxy,” said Kailash Sahu, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, quoted from Smithsonian Magazine, Monday (27/6/2022).
He said the black holes follow the same distribution as stars. Statistically, the nearest black hole is probably about 80 light years away.
However, on the other hand the mysterious object may not be a black hole.
Two teams from the University of California, Berkeley and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore analyzed the Hubble data and both found the same object.
Berkeley’s team argues, it’s likely not a black hole, but a neutron star. Even so, regardless of whether it was a black hole or not, the discovery was still important.
“Whether it’s a black hole or a free-floating neutron star, the discovery remains important. Because this was the first time it was discovered by gravitational microlensing,” said Jessica Lu of the Berkeley team.
(amj)
–
