Astronomers believe they've found something never before detected in the universe: a black hole of intermediate size. And while that may not sound thrilling to the layman, researchers are thrilled by the discovery of the so-called “Hyper-Luminous X-ray Source 1,” which is poised at the edge of galaxy ESO 243-49. Astronomers are excited because they've seen plenty of small black holes and large black holes, but experts had questioned whether a medium-sized variety could exist.
These middleweights, at about 500 times the mass of the sun, could represent a missing link between common stellar black holes, created by the death of a single star, and the supermassive variety that can pack the mass of millions or even billions of suns [SPACE.com].
Astronomers explain that small
black holes, between three and 20 times the mass of the sun, are created when big stars collapse and leave behind a gravitational pull strong ...
