Black hole found in enigmatic Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri has been known as an unusual globular cluster for a long time. A new result obtained by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory reveals that the explanation behind Omega Centauri’s peculiarities may be a black hole hidden in its centre. One implication of the discovery is that it is very likely that Omega Centauri is not a globular cluster at all, but a dwarf galaxy stripped of its outer stars, as some scientists have suspected for a few years.

A new discovery has resolved some of the mystery surrounding Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. Images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and data obtained by the GMOS spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope in Chile show that Omega Centauri appears to harbour an elusive intermediate-mass black hole in its centre. “This result shows that there is a continuous range of masses for black holes, from supermassive, to intermediate-mass, to small stellar mass types”

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Omega Centauri is visible from Earth with the naked eye and is one of the favorite celestial objects for stargazers from the southern hemisphere. The article says it is different from Globular clusters and runs faster due to an intermediate black hole in its center; So new addition to the masses of black holes - an intermediate one

[edit on 3-4-2008 by Enceladus]

[edit on 3-4-2008 by Enceladus]

Off topic: didn't wanna start a new thread so appending here

NASA finds black hole in Milky Way


Wanna know more about Black Holes and many theories related to it? Click here

Star for you. I always LOVE to hear new discoveries and ideas about space.

It really is amazing.