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Messier Monday: The Galaxy’s First Globular with a Black Hole, M62 (Synopsis)

By esiegel on August 11, 2014.

“And then you wake up, only to see that the darkness has gone, the light now truly makes you feel vulnerable and you wonder why this darkness did not wish you well and why did it leave you so sudden, without revealing the answers you were looking for.” -Chirag Tulsiani

"You've seen one, you've seen them all," said no skywatcher ever when it comes to these wonders of the night sky. Every star, cluster, galaxy and nebula has its own cosmic story, and Messier Monday provides us with a fabulous opportunity to highlight and explore each one.

Image credit: ©2007–2012 Twin City Amateur Astronomers, via http://tcaa.us/Astronomy/Messier/Messier.aspx?id=M62. Image credit: ©2007–2012 Twin City Amateur Astronomers, via http://tcaa.us/Astronomy/Messier/Messier.aspx?id=M62.

Today, it's Messier 62's time to shine: a massive, dense-cored globular cluster that just happens to be home to the very first stellar-mass black hole ever discovered in one of the Milky Way's globulars!

Image credit: Very Large Array / National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Image credit: Very Large Array / National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Go find out how we did it, and learn all you can about this wondrous sight visible in your sky tonight!

Tags
Astronomy
Black Holes

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So I take it it the the combination of a "noisy" environment, and the paucity of gas that means we can't find most of these BHs.

By Omega Centauri (not verified) on 13 Aug 2014 #permalink