The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way is not alone. One study suggests that many smaller black holes revolve around it, absorbing nearby stars.
Astronomers at Columbia University in New York have scrutinized images taken by the Chandra X-ray telescope over the last ten years.
Powerful X-ray sources reveal black holes
The scientists can now identify hundreds of distinct sources of X-rays, but 12 of them stand out. They emit X-rays so strong that they can only be emitted from super-hot material rotating around a black hole.
These 12 black holes have been created from very large stars that have burned out and collapsed under their own weight. Only stars that are at least 25 times more massive than the Sun can end up as black holes.
These newly discovered black holes are right near the center of the Milky Way, or within a radius of 3.3 light years.
The discovery supports the latest theory about nebulae, according to which nebulae of the age of the Milky Way should be half full of black holes, formed from very massive stars, many of which should move closer to the center over time.
According to the theory, the black holes should number in the thousands and revolve around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
A supermassive black hole millions of times more massive than the Sun
That black hole is millions of times more massive than the Sun and probably formed early in the history of the Milky Way. Since then, it has absorbed material and thus gained even more weight.
The newly discovered black holes have been named stellar mass black holes because of their origin. However, these are only dwarfs compared to the black hole at the center.
