Max™ said:Well, I did actually know about the large ones, and I remember some buzz about midrange holes being proposed for certain unusual xray sources, but yeah the main thing that is interesting here is how close it is, right around the corner, galactically speaking.
Max™ said:I was thinking of these: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/Ultraluminous-Xrays.html
Chronos said:Actually, small black holes [< 5 solar mass] are quite scarce [as in almost nonexistent]. I find the apparent mass gap between the largest neutron stars and smallest black holes to be very curious.
Exactly. There are only 20 to 30 or so objects that are deemed to be strong candidates for stellar mass black holes. It's a small list.SHISHKABOB said:would that be because it's difficult to detect stellar mass black holes, and so we don't have a lot of examples of them?
It is well accepted that stars above about [strike]8[/strike] 10 or so solar masses end up going supernova. Stars between 0.5 solar masses and 10 solar masses end up as white dwarfs. It's only the massive stars that die a spectacular death. The result of that death can be a neutron star plus a bunch of ejecta, a black hole plus a bunch of ejecta, just a bunch of ejecta, or just a black hole and hardly any ejecta. Stars between 10 to 25 solar masses do go supernova, but the supernova ends up ejecting almost everything. The small core that is left is too small to undergo a complete gravitational collapse. It instead becomes a neutron star.SHISHKABOB said:oh wow really? I thought it was well accepted that massive stars above around 8 solar masses end up going supernova and forming black holes.
Max™ said:Wouldn't that be the other way around? We've found lots of huge ones, I'm curious what the smallest we've found is.
A 100 solar mass black hole is a type of black hole with a mass equivalent to 100 times the mass of our sun. It is formed when a massive star collapses under its own gravity, resulting in a singularity with extremely strong gravitational pull.
The 100 solar mass black hole in question is located in the Orion constellation, specifically in the star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula.
The 100 solar mass black hole in Orion was discovered through observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which detected X-ray emissions from the region. This led to further studies and confirmation of the presence of the black hole.
The discovery of a 100 solar mass black hole in Orion is significant because it is the first of its kind to be found in a star-forming region. This provides valuable insights into the formation and evolution of black holes, as well as their role in the formation of new stars.
No, the 100 solar mass black hole in Orion is located at a safe distance from Earth and poses no threat to our planet. Its strong gravitational pull only affects objects that come very close to it, and it is too far away to have any significant impact on our solar system.