intermediate-mass black holes. tagged posts

The beautiful spiral galaxy visible in the center of the image is known as RX J1140.1+0307, a galaxy in the Virgo constellation imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

The beautiful spiral galaxy visible in the center of the image is known as RX J1140.1+0307, a galaxy in the Virgo constellation imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and it presents an interesting puzzle. At first glance, this galaxy appears to be a normal spiral galaxy, much like the Milky Way – which has a supermassive black hole at its center. But some galaxies are centered on lighter, intermediate-mass black holes. RX J1140.1+0307 is such a galaxy. In fact, it is centered on one of the lowest black hole masses known in any luminous galactic core.

Wh...