The suspect is the smallest black hole ever discovered

A team of astronomers at Ohio University found that the object is most likely a black hole about 3.3 times the mass of the Sun.

"We found evidence that there could be a kind of black hole in space that humans have never discovered," said Todd Thompson, lead author of the study. If this object is confirmed, current space science hypotheses will need to add a new type of black hole, and the understanding of how stars or other bodies spawn and die will also change, Science Alert October 31 reported.

Picture 1 of The suspect is the smallest black hole ever discovered
Scientists have discovered a high-probability object belonging to an entirely new group of black holes.(Photo: Space).

Black holes can form after a star dies, collapses and explodes, creating a gravitational region so strong that even light cannot escape. They can appear at the center of galaxies, acting as a giant engine. But this does not always happen. Some dead stars form neutron stars, small but very dense objects.

Black holes usually have 5-15 times the mass of the Sun, even bigger. In comparison, the neutron star mass is only about 2 times that of the Sun. If 2.5 times larger, the neutron star could collapse and turn into a black hole.

Thompson and his colleagues find it difficult to understand the significant difference between the size of the largest neutron stars and the smallest black holes. He and his colleagues studied the data of APOGEE, the program to observe the light of 100,000 stars in the Milky Way.

They found a giant red star orbiting a strange object, which appears to be too small for a black hole in the Milky Way galaxy but much larger than a normal neutron star. Finally, scientists believe that this is likely a black hole with a mass of only 3.3 times the Sun.

"If we can find a new group of black holes, we will understand more about what will explode, why not, how to create black holes and why they become neutron stars. This will open up an array of research." help, " Thompson said.