Another ‘missing link’ black hole discovered near the center of the galaxy

A group of international researchers from in Germany recently discovered one of the rarest types of black holes in the universe. The researchers were observing a cluster of stars in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A (Sgr A), at the center of the Milky Way. They then discovered signs of an intermediate-mass black hole, a type of black hole that is sometimes called the “missing link” of black holes, according to .

Black holes range in size from supermassive to primordial and the intermediate one is above the primordial size. They are believed to have formed shortly after the Big Bang and act as “seeds” for the creation of supermassive black holes.

The cluster of stars believed to be the latest intermediate-mass black hole, dubbed IRS 13, moved in an orderly pattern when they expected them to be randomly organized. The researchers concluded that the star cluster must be interacting with the supermassive black hole and “there must be something inside the cluster for it to be able to maintain the observed compact shape,” according to a statement from the University of Cologne.

Plans are underway to perform more observations on the intermediate black hole. They will use the James Webb Space Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile, which is currently under construction (and yes, that is ).

Scientists discovered in 2020 using the Hubble Space Telescope when they found the waves created by its formation. Until then, intermediate-mass black holes were considered a “missing link” between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes and could provide more information about the formation of black holes and the Universe.