A group of international researchers from the In Germany, one of the rarest types of black holes in the universe was recently discovered. The researchers were observing a cluster of stars near a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A (Sgr A) at the center of the Milky Way. They then discovered signs of an intermediate-mass black hole, a type of black hole sometimes referred to as the “missing link” of black holes, according to .
Black holes range in size from supermassive to primordial, with the intermediate being above primordial in size. They are thought to have formed just after the Big Bang and act as “seeds” for the creation of supermassive black holes.
The cluster of stars thought to be the newest intermediate-mass black hole, called IRS 13, moved in an orderly pattern when they expected them to be randomly arranged. The researchers concluded that the cluster of stars must be interacting with the supermassive black hole and that “there must be something in the cluster that allows it to maintain its observed compact shape,” according to a statement from the University of Cologne.
There are plans to conduct further observations of the intermediate black hole. They will use the James Webb Space Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile that is currently under construction (and yes, that is ).
Scientists discovered in 2020 using the Hubble Space Telescope when they discovered the waves created by its formation. Until then, intermediate-mass black holes were considered a “missing link” between stellar and supermassive black holes and could provide more insight into the formation of black holes and the universe.
