'Seeds' of massive black holes found at the centre of Milky Way

A group of researchers from Keio University have found intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) candidates at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy.

It is approximately 30,000 light-years from the solar system in the direction of Sagittarius. IMBH candidates are regarded to be the "seeds" that are responsible to form and grow massive black holes.

Headed by Associate Professor Tomoharu Oka, the research team used radio telescopes and found four "warm, dense (more than 50 degrees Kelvin, more than 10,000 hydrogen molecules per cubic centimeter)" masses of molecular gas at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Out of the four masses three masses of molecular gas have been expanding.

The research has suggested the reason for the expansion to be supernova explosions. It is predicted that the largest explosion that occurred in the masses of molecular gas is nearly equal to 200 supernova explosions.

Moreover, the age of the gas masses is approximately 60,000 years old.

From this, it can be concluded that a huge cluster of star is buried in one of the gas masses. The mass of the cluster (more than 100,000 times the mass of the Sun) can be compared to the largest cluster of star found in the Milky Way Galaxy.

It is thought that IMBHs are formed in the domain of such huge star clusters. Eventually, IMBHs born near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy form or expand into a supermassive black hole at the nucleus of the galaxy.

-With inputs from ANI