Finnish researchers discover new type of black hole

Researchers at the University of Turku, in cooperation with international colleagues, have identified a new type of low-mass black hole. The type now discovered is a bright celestial object that emits x-rays.


NOTE : It is not possible to directly observe a black hole, but it is possible to detect events in its vicinity. An artist's concept of x-ray emissions from a black hole, published by NASA, August 2014

This new type of black hole has less mass than other known types and is associated with x-ray emitting quasars.

Up until now, it has been assumed that the collapse of a massive star generally forms a massive black hole or a small neutron star. The mass gap between neutron stars and stellar mass black holes is a question that has been a matter of inquiry for numerous research teams.

The object now discovered and designed SWIFT J1753.5-0127 has a mass somewhere between that of a conventionally-recognized black hole and a neutron star. Previously, observed neutron stars have been found to have less than two solar masses, while black holes have over five.

Observations related to this new type of low-mass black hole were published in a paper by a group of reseachers at the University of Turku, the Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, and the INAF-IASF Milan branch, and published by the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Source : yle