Astronomers Discover Powerful Black Hole in Nearby Galaxy

In a galaxy not so far away, a powerful black hole has been discovered by astronomers.

According to an International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) report, the black hole identified in the galaxy called M83, is named MQ1.

Dr. Roberto Soria of ICRAR, who led the team behind this discovery, says, "MQ1 is classed as a microquasar – a black hole surrounded by a bubble of hot gas, which is heated by two jets just outside the black hole, powerfully shooting out energy in opposite directions, acting like cosmic sandblasters pushing out on the surrounding gas," reports Science Recorder.

According to astronomers, the most powerful microquasar in the Milky Way, called SS433, is approximately 10 times less powerful than MQ1, states the report.

"Black holes vary in size and are classed as either stellar mass (less than about 70 times the mass of our Sun) or supermassive (millions of times the mass of our Sun, like the giant black hole that is located in the middle of the Milky Way), says Dr. Soria, as per a report in Planetsave.

"MQ1 is a stellar mass black hole and was likely formed when a star died, collapsing to leave behind a compact mass," he says.

"The significance of the huge jet power measured for MQ1 goes beyond this particular galaxy: it helps astronomers understand and quantify the strong effect that black hole jets have on the surrounding gas, which gets heated and swept away," he added.

Astronomers came to the conclusion, using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, that the jets around the MQ1 structure extend approximately 20 light years from either side of the black hole.

The discovery of MQ1 is just one of the findings from the recent large-scale and exhaustive study of the M83 galaxy, which is located about 15 million light years away from Earth, states the Planetsave report.