Hubble Locates Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
This Hubble Space Telescope image identified the location of an intermediate-mass black hole, weighing over 50,000 times the mass of our Sun (making it much smaller than supermassive black holes found in the centers of galaxies). The black hole, named 3XMM J215022.4−055108, is indicated by the white circle. The elusive type of black hole was first identified in a burst of telltale X-rays emitted by hot gas from a star as it was captured and destroyed by the black hole. Hubble was needed to pinpoint the black hole's location in visible light. Hubble's deep, high-resolution imaging shows that the black hole resides inside a dense cluster of stars that is far beyond our Milky Way galaxy. The star cluster is in the vicinity of the galaxy at the center of the image. Much smaller-looking background galaxies appear sprinkled around the image, including a face-on spiral just above the central foreground galaxy. This photo was taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and D. Lin (University of New Hampshire)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | J2150-0551 |
| Object Description | Intermediate Mass Black Hole |
| R.A. Position | 21:50:22.457 |
| Dec. Position | -05:51:09.163 |
| Constellation | Aquarius |
| Distance | About 800 million light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is about 40 arc seconds across (about 155,000 light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program (D. Lin) |
| Instrument | ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | May 24, 2018 |
| Filters | F775W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS/WFC instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. In this case, the monochromatic image is presented in grayscale. |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
