The black hole is one of the most important, dangerous, and hard-to-observe objects in the universe, but scientists managed to achieve a first that seemed completely impossible. We are talking about an isolated stellar-mass black hole that scientists have detected for the first time in the universe, and this comes as an extremely important discovery in the context of the detailed research that is being done regarding the surrounding universe.
The black hole discovered now is unique in that until now all those with a similar mass have been discovered in binary systems, that is, they also had neutron stars around them. No one has so far been able to observe an isolated star of this kind, and this is because they absorb all the light around them, so that they become almost impossible to observe, and that is why objects in binary systems can be observed by scientists from Earth.
The Black Hole Discovered in the PREMIERE, which STUNNED Scientists
The black hole discovered by NASA, with the help of the Hubble telescope, is located 5150 light years from Earth, in the direction of the extremity of the Milky Way Galaxy, so inside our galaxy. Scientists have known that black holes of this kind exist, but they have not been able to observe them until now because they absorb light, but behind this discovery is the way in which the gravitational fields of such an object affect space and the time.
The black hole was discovered through a technique similar to that behind the lenses for glasses, or cameras, the gravitational fields creating discrepancies in time and space that can act like a lens that magnifies what is in front of it.
"So far, all stellar-mass black holes detected to date have existed in binary systems with partners such as neutron stars. In contrast, most of the Milky Way's stellar-mass black holes should be singletons. No one, until now, has ever been able to find an isolated black hole.
We now know that isolated black holes exist. And they have masses similar to black holes found in binaries. And there must be a lot of them out there. If one can detect and measure the bending of light caused by these massive objects, it is possible to detect and measure their masses."
The way in which the light around a black hole is rippled by these gravitational fields can be detected with the Hubble telescope, and thus the mass of such an object can also be measured.
The black hole discovered now will not be the only object of this kind detected through this technique, and this is because it is becoming more and more used to observe the vast universe, and discover its secrets.
