Evidence suggests an intermediate-mass black hole hides in the Milky Way's largest star cluster
Sandeep K S
Dec 15, 2025
1 min read
Despite being the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way with 10 million stars, Omega Centauri's core remains silent and mysterious. Scientists suspect a massive black hole of at least 8,200 solar masses at the center, indicated by stars moving impossibly fast. However, the most sensitive radio scans have revealed nothing, suggesting a "starving" black hole with no nearby fuel to emit emissions.
What if a galaxy could exist without the brilliant stars that normally make galaxies visible? Cloud-9 may offer astronomers one of the most intriguing examples yet. Located near the spiral galaxy M94,
What if a galaxy could exist without the brilliant stars that normally make galaxies visible? Cloud-9 may offer astronomers one of the most intriguing examples yet. Located near the spiral galaxy M94, this mysterious hydrogen-rich object appears to contain enormous amounts of gas while producing almost no detectable starlight.
Astrophysicists have completed ASTRID, the largest cosmological hydrodynamic simulation ever run, tracing the universe from the cosmic dawn ($z=99$) down to the present day ($z=0$). By resolving 166 billion particles across 815 million light-years, ASTRID unveils how supermassive black holes co-evolve with galaxies and sculpt the cosmic web.
Scientists have uncovered the first robust evidence of a black hole and neutron star crashing together while orbiting in an oval path, challenging long-standing assumptions about cosmic pair formation.
Most neutron star-black hole pairs are expected to adopt circular orbits long before merging, their orbits slowly rounded out by the constant emission of gravitational waves over millions of years.
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