Препринт

Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in ω Centauri

Maximilian HäberleMax Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany. [email protected]Nadine NeumayerMax Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, GermanyAnil SethDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USAAndrea BelliniSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USAMattia LibralatoAURA for the European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USAHolger BaumgardtSchool of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, AustraliaMatthew WhitakerDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USAAntoine DumontMax Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, GermanyM. Alfaro-CuelloFacultad de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, Universidad Central de Chile, La Serena, ChileJay AndersonSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USAC. ClontzDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USAN. KacharovLeibniz Institute for Astrophysics, Potsdam, GermanySebastian KamannAstrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United KingdomA. FeldmeierDepartment of Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Wien, AustriaA. P. MiloneM. S. NitschaiMax Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, GermanyRenuka PechettiAstrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United KingdomGlenn van de VenDepartment of Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria

2024en

ABI

Аннотация

Abstract Black holes have been found over a wide range of masses, from stellar remnants with masses of 5–150 solar masses ( M ☉ ), to those found at the centres of galaxies with M > 10 5 M ☉ . However, only a few debated candidate black holes exist between 150 M ☉ and 10 5 M ☉ . Determining the population of these intermediate-mass black holes is an important step towards understanding supermassive black hole formation in the early universe 1,2 . Several studies have claimed the detection of a central black hole in ω Centauri, the most massive globular cluster of the Milky Way 3–5 . However, these studies have been questioned because of the possible mass contribution of stellar mass black holes, their sensitivity to the cluster centre and the lack of fast-moving stars above the escape velocity 6–9 . Here we report the observations of seven fast-moving stars in the central 3 arcsec (0.08 pc) of ω Centauri. The velocities of the fast-moving stars are significantly higher than the expected central escape velocity of the star cluster, so their presence can be explained only by being bound to a massive black hole. From the velocities alone, we can infer a firm lower limit of the black hole mass of about 8,200 M ☉ , making this a good case for an intermediate-mass black hole in the local universe.

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Идентификаторы

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07511-z

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