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Intermediate-mass black holes are a long-sought

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“missing link” in black hole evolution.

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They are smaller than the supermassive black holes

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that lie at the cores of large galaxies,

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but larger than stellar-mass black holes formed  

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by the collapse of massive stars.

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Only a few candidates have been found to date.

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Now, a team of astronomers analyzed over

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500 images from 20 years of

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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observations

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to find evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole

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by tracking seven fast-moving stars

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in the Omega Centauri globular star cluster.

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Scientists think a massive object is 
gravitationally pulling on the stars  

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within Omega Centauri, keeping them close to 
its center.

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From the motions of the stars,

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they estimate it has a mass of at least 
8,200 times that of our Sun. 

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The only object that can be so massive is a black hole.

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This discovery is the most direct evidence,

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so far, of an intermediate-mass 
black hole in Omega Centauri,  

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which is exciting because only a few other known

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black holes have a similar mass.

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Thanks to Hubble’s treasure trove 
of data, astronomers were able to

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make this incredible discovery as we continue to uncover

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more and more mysteries of the universe!

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"Follow us on social media @NASAHubble" or "NASA.gov/Hubble"