RHYTHMIC PULSATIONS OF A BLACK HOLE

 

Astronomers have uncovered rhythmic pulsations from a rare type of black hole 12 million light-years away by sifting through archival data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite.

The signals have helped astronomers identify an unusual midsize black hole called M82 X-1, which is the brightest X-ray source in a galaxy known as Messier 82. Most black holes formed by dying stars are modestly-sized, measuring up to around 25 times the mass of our sun. And most large galaxies harbor monster, or supermassive, black holes that contain tens of thousands of times more mass.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-08-rxte-satellite-decodes-rhythm-unusual.html#jCp
Reference:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13710.html

CORINA MARINESCU