Scientists think that in theory, the center of the Milky Way could have a supermassive black hole. Other than that theory, I haven't heard of any others in our galaxy.
2006-08-01 22:14:34
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answer #1
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answered by Lizzard 4
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Surprising Second Black Hole Found in Milky Way's Center
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 15 November 2004
06:23 am ET
Astronomers think they have found a rare if not unique black hole very near the center of the Milky Way. That would make two of the beasts in that part of the galaxy.
The discovery also adds weight to the idea that black holes come in three sizes, essentially small, medium and large.
Stellar black holes -- the remains of collapsed stars, are common. They typically harbor as much mass as a few suns. And for years, scientists have known there are supermassive black holes in many galaxies; one with the mass of more than three million suns anchors the Milky Way.
The newly detected object appears to be an intermediate mass black hole, packing about 1,300 solar masses.
Intermediate mass black holes ought to exist, some theorists say, because they should have been the building blocks of supermassive black holes. A few should be left scattered around any respectable galaxy. But attempts to discover them -- data suggest two others exist in our galaxy -- have so far proved inconclusive.
Black holes can't be seen, because everything that falls into them, including light, is trapped. But the swift motions of gas and stars near an otherwise invisible object allows astronomers to calculate that it's a black hole and even to estimate its mass.
If the newfound object, catalogued as GCIRS 13E, is indeed a middleweight black hole, it is likely a rare variety, perhaps one of kind, that formed farther out and has been lured to the galactic center. It is now less than 1.5 light-years from the fringes of the known supermassive black hole. That's much closer than our Sun is to the next nearest star.
Orbiting the presumed middleweight are seven stars, each of which in its prime was more than 40 times the mass of the Sun. Even as corpses they contain five to 10 solar masses. The whole setup is racing around the galactic center at 626,300 mph (280 kilometers per second).
Theory holds that these stars could not have formed in their present location, because the gravity of the nearby supermassive black hole wouldn't have allowed a gas cloud to contract into a star, says study leader Jean-Pierre Maillard of the Institute of Astrophysics in Paris.
On the other hand, Maillard told SPACE.com, the stars could not have formed too far from their present location. Why? Because there wasn't time. Massive stars die young. The seven examined in the study can't be more than 10 million years old, or they would have exploded already. So the seven stars, along with the middleweight black hole, all had to migrate inward within the past 10 million years -- an eyeblink in the 13 billion years of the galaxy's lifetime.
All this means the cluster probably formed about 60 light-years out beyond its current orbit, the calculations show.
Maillard said the seven stars are the remains of what likely was once a cluster of many stars. In such a globular cluster, as astronomers call it, a middleweight black hole could develop through runaway star collisions, other research has found.
"It might be unique," Maillard said of the black hole candidate. Other middleweights might exist in the galaxy, he said, but probably none so close to the center.
The study relied on data from several telescopes, including the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory in Chile.
There are other clues as to what's there. The location of the apparent middleweight black hole coincides with a source of X-rays noted by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Black holes are known to create intense X-ray emissions as gas swirls inward and is superheated.
Maillard cautions, however, that more observations are needed to pin down with certainty the existence and identity of the object.
The discovery, announced last week, is detailed in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
This article is part of SPACE.com's weekly Mystery Monday series.
Source: wwww. space.com
2006-08-02 05:28:23
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answer #2
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answered by Thuy Nguyen 2
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Yeah man, there's a huge massive one at the center of the galaxy (in theory). I bet if you typed in 'black hole milky way' on google, you'd get a bunch of relevant sites (or candy stores...)
2006-08-02 05:14:46
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answer #3
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answered by 006 6
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Yeah, there is black hole in the milky ways, they see it .
and it is in Center of the Milky way . for more information check out .www.space.com
2006-08-02 08:41:10
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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Yes there could be many. But who knows the exact number considering they are difficult to find because they're invisible to most telescopes except when they're swallowing another star.
2006-08-02 05:19:46
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answer #5
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answered by ? 3
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there was milky way in my black hole the other day... was lucky though got it out in time before it started to melt
2006-08-02 05:14:52
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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Don't know - but theres loads of ars*holes on the Internet!
2006-08-02 05:16:28
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answer #7
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answered by ? 6
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we'd be doom soon if its close to us. it will grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger and then our solar sytem will be sucked into it. we might pop out of a white whole in some other galaxy far far away and get advanced weaponry and start star wars but highly unlikely=P
2006-08-02 05:15:28
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answer #8
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answered by Spectator 2
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yeap there are many.
Its just that they are transperent in nature so it cant be detect even by Telescope also.
Bye .....
2006-08-02 05:16:36
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answer #9
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answered by uchitshah 2
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well, there seem to be a few in my twix.
2006-08-02 05:15:42
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answer #10
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answered by pyg 4
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