Second Largest Black Hole in Milky Way Disguised Itself as a Gas Cloud
By Russell WesterholmA team of astronomers has spotted what they called the second largest black hole in the Milky Way galaxy.
Some 200 light years from the galaxy's center, the astronomers noticed a strange gas cloud they named CO-0.40-0.22, FoxNews.com reported. The cloud had an elliptical shape and was generating winds at varying speeds, allowing them to determine it was not a supernova, as well as other objects.
Published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, the new study detailed how CO-0.40-0.22 most resembled a black hole.
"Considering the fact that no compact objects are seen in X-ray or infrared observations," study lead author Tomoharu Oka, a professor at Keio University in Japan, said in a press release. "As far as we know, the best candidate for the compact massive object is a black hole."
The researchers used the Nobeyama 45-meter radio telescope to find the black hole, which could introduce a new method for seeking out black holes. CO-0.40-0.22 is also quite possibly the first "intermediate mass" black hole.
"Investigations of gas motion with radio telescopes may provide a complementary way to search for dark black holes," Oka said. "The on-going wide area survey observations of the Milky Way with the Nobeyama 45-m Telescope and high-resolution observations of nearby galaxies using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have the potential to increase the number of black hole candidates dramatically."