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Hey, it's Mike Chen.
Really interesting news this week,
we talk about black holes a lot on this channel
and if you don't know a black hole is a phenomenon in space
where a lot of matter is squeezed into a tiny space
and where gravity is so strong
that light can't even get out and that is why, well, we can't really see them.
Now black holes can be big or small
but according to a study published in Nature Astronomy.
Scientists led by Tomoharu Oka from Keio University, Japan
believe they have discovered a massive black hole
about 100,000 times the size of our sun
near the center of the Milky Way,
and supposedly it's hid in within a huge cloud of molecular gas.
And researchers believe that it could be an Intermediate-mass black hole (IMBHs)
which is the missing link in the development of supermassive black holes.
Of course, evidence of IMBH has never been found
which would make this discovery pretty remarkable.
Now according to the report,
scientists found a very strange looking molecular cloud in the middle of the milky way
and the cloud showcased a wide range of movements never seen before
and these properties could be explained by a gravitational kick
caused by an “invisible compact object with a mass of about 100 solar masses.”
Then using some models and simulations,
researchers think it could be an IMBH
and if that turns out to be true,
it would be the second biggest one in a milky way
with the largest being Sagittarius A.
And as researchers continued to study the cloud,
radio waves were found that resembled Sagittarius A.
The similarities could indicate the existence of a mid-sized black hole
Astronomers believe that the black hole could have formed
after a former core of a dwarf galaxy was absorbed by the Milky Way.
And i f the discovery is confirmed,
it would support the theory that galaxies grow by sort of "cannibalizing their smaller neighbors,"
According to the study:
“It is widely accepted that black holes with masses greater than a million solar masses
lurk at the centers of massive galaxies,”
“The origins of such supermassive black holes remain unknown.”
“Theoretical studies have predicted that 100 million to 1 billion black holes
should exist in the Milky Way,
although only 60 or so have been identified through observations so far,”
Basically, if the study is confirmed and astronomers did indeed find an IMBH
it would help us immensely in our understanding of supermassive black homes
that are not just 100k but billions of times bigger than the sun.
And black holes are really interesting because we really don't know much about them.
But one thing we do know is that,
well, it makes time travel possible.
Anyway, I'll keep you guys updated on this story.
Thank you all so much for watching, see you later.