GCIRS 13E

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GCIRS 13E is potentially an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) with a mass of about 1300 Solar masses orbiting about three light years from the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Its orbital velocity is 280 kilometers per second.[1]

GCIRS 13E is associated with a small cluster of seven massive stars orbiting it. It is thought that massive stars cannot form so close to a supermassive black hole and since such massive stars have a short lifespan it is thought that GCIRS 13E must have migrated inward toward the central black hole within the past 10 million years, probably from about 60 light-years further out its current orbit. The companion stars are possibly the remains of a globular cluster where a middleweight black hole such as GCIRS 13E could develop through runaway star collisions.[1]

In 2005, however, a German research group claimed that the presence of an IMBH near the galactic center is doubtful.[2] This conclusion is based on a dynamical study of a small star cluster in which should reside the suspected intermediate mass black hole. The debate on the real existence of intermediate mass black holes is still open.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b S2 and Central Black Hole
  2. ^ Schoedel, R.; A. Eckart, C. Iserlohe, R. Genzel, T. Ott (2005). "A Black Hole in the Galactic Center Complex IRS 13E?". Astrophys. J. 625: L111–L114. doi:10.1086/431307. arXiv:astro-ph/0504474.