Gaia Detected an Entire Swarm of Black Holes Moving Through the Milky Way
The Gaia observatory found over 100 black holes in the Palomar 5 star cluster, 80,000 light-years away, comprising over 20% of its mass and suggesting a new method for estimating black hole populations.
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The Gaia space observatory has identified a cluster of over 100 stellar-mass black holes within the Palomar 5 star cluster, located approximately 80,000 light-years from Earth. Palomar 5 is a tidal stream that spans 30,000 light-years and is considered a remnant of the early Universe, containing around 100,000 to 1 million ancient stars. Researchers utilized N-body simulations to analyze the orbits and evolution of stars in the cluster, discovering that gravitational interactions with black holes could explain the current distribution of stars and black holes. The findings indicate that the number of black holes in Palomar 5 is about three times higher than previously expected, constituting over 20% of the cluster's total mass. Each black hole has a mass approximately 20 times that of the Sun. The study suggests that Palomar 5 will eventually dissolve into a stellar stream, similar to other globular clusters, and highlights the potential for these clusters to harbor black holes that may merge in the future. This research provides a new method for estimating the number of black holes in star clusters by observing the stars they eject, contributing to our understanding of black hole formation and dynamics.
- Gaia has detected over 100 black holes in the Palomar 5 star cluster.
- The cluster is approximately 80,000 light-years away and contains ancient stars.
- The number of black holes is three times higher than expected, making up over 20% of the cluster's mass.
- Palomar 5 is expected to dissolve into a stellar stream, similar to other globular clusters.
- The study offers a new method to estimate black hole populations in star clusters.
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