Scientists discover what may be the 'missing link' in black hole evolution


Fresh on the heels of the discovery of a supermassive black hole, astronomers have located a medium-sized black hole in the NGC 2276 host galaxy, 100 million light years away.
The black hole is extremely rare, Discovery News reports, and it could be "the missing link in black hole evolution." NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Network found the black hole, thanks to radio waves "from energetic sources in the cosmos," Discovery News notes.
Intermediate-mass black holes are notoriously difficult to find, and the one in question, NGC-2276-3c, is extremely important to astronomers. The black hole has qualities representative of both stellar-sized black holes and supermassive black holes, Andrei Lobanov of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy told Discovery News, so it "helps tie the whole black hole family together."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The astronomers are researching how NGC-2276-3c reached its host galaxy. They believe the black hole may have formed in a dwarf galaxy before merging with NGC 2276. Studying NGC-2276-3c could help scientists better understand black hole growth and how black holes become supermassive in their respective galaxies.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Entente cordiale: will state visit help UK-French relations get over Brexit?
Today's Big Question The King, a keen Francophile who has a warm relationship with Emmanuel Macron, will play a key role in state visit
-
Israel's plan for confining all Palestinians in 'humanitarian city'
The Explainer Defence minister wants to establish zone in Gaza for displaced people – which they would not be allowed to leave – prompting accusations of war crimes
-
Secluded retreats for aspiring writers
The Week Recommends These tranquil hideaways are the perfect place to put pen to paper
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes