List of black holes

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This list of black holes (and stars considered probable candidates) is organized by mass (including black holes of undetermined mass); some items in this list are galaxies or star clusters that are believed to be organized around a black hole. Messier and New General Catalogue designations are given where possible.

Contents

Supermassive black holes and candidates

Types

Intermediate-mass black holes and candidates

Stellar black holes and candidates

Black holes detected by gravitational wave signals

As of February 2019, 10 mergers of binary black holes have been observed. In each case two black holes merged to a larger black hole. In addition, one neutron star merger has been observed (GW170817), forming a black hole. In addition, over 30 alerts have been issued since April 2019, of black hole merger candidates.

Multiple black hole systems

Binary black holes

In addition, the signal of several binary black holes merging into a single black hole and in so doing producing gravitational waves have been observed by the LIGO instrument. These are listed above in the section Black holes detected by gravitational wave signals.

Trinary black holes

As of 2014, there are 5 triple black hole systems known. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quasar</span> Active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole

A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging from millions to tens of billions of solar masses, surrounded by a gaseous accretion disc. Gas in the disc falling towards the black hole heats up and releases energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The radiant energy of quasars is enormous; the most powerful quasars have luminosities thousands of times greater than that of a galaxy such as the Milky Way. Quasars are usually categorized as a subclass of the more general category of AGN. The redshifts of quasars are of cosmological origin.

An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that this luminosity is not produced by the stars. Such excess, non-stellar emissions have been observed in the radio, microwave, infrared, optical, ultra-violet, X-ray and gamma ray wavebands. A galaxy hosting an AGN is called an active galaxy. The non-stellar radiation from an AGN is theorized to result from the accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole at the center of its host galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangulum Galaxy</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC (New General Catalogue) 598. With the D25 isophotal diameter of 18.74 kiloparsecs (61,100 light-years), the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seyfert galaxy</span> Class of active galaxies with very bright nuclei

Seyfert galaxies are one of the two largest groups of active galaxies, along with quasar host galaxies. They have quasar-like nuclei with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, their host galaxies are clearly detectable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supermassive black hole</span> Largest type of black hole

A supermassive black hole is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions, of times the mass of the Sun (M☉). Black holes are a class of astronomical objects that have undergone gravitational collapse, leaving behind spheroidal regions of space from which nothing can escape, including light. Observational evidence indicates that almost every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. For example, the Milky Way galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center, corresponding to the radio source Sagittarius A*. Accretion of interstellar gas onto supermassive black holes is the process responsible for powering active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermediate-mass black hole</span> Class of black holes with a mass range of 100 to 100000 solar masses

An intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) is a class of black hole with mass in the range of one hundred to one hundred thousand (102–105) solar masses: significantly higher than stellar black holes but lower than the hundred thousand to more than one billion (105–109) solar mass supermassive black holes. Several IMBH candidate objects have been discovered in the Milky Way galaxy and others nearby, based on indirect gas cloud velocity and accretion disk spectra observations of various evidentiary strength.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stellar black hole</span> Black hole formed by a collapsed star

A stellar black hole is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. They have masses ranging from about 5 to several tens of solar masses. They are the remnants of supernova explosions, which may be observed as a type of gamma ray burst. These black holes are also referred to as collapsars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 32</span> Dwarf elliptical galaxy in the constellation Andromeda

Messier 32 is a dwarf "early-type" galaxy about 2,650,000 light-years (810,000 pc) from the Solar System, appearing in the constellation Andromeda. M32 is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1749.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 49</span> Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo

Messier 49 is a giant elliptical galaxy about 56 million light-years away in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. This galaxy was discovered by astronomer Charles Messier in 1777.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 59</span> Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo

Messier 59 or M59, also known as NGC 4621, is an elliptical galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It is a member of the Virgo Cluster, with the nearest fellow member 8′ away and around 5 magnitudes fainter. The nearest cluster member of comparable brightness is the lenticular galaxy NGC 4638, which is around 17′ away. It and the angularly nearby elliptical galaxy Messier 60 were both discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in April 1779 when observing comet seeming close by. Charles Messier listed both in the Messier Catalogue about three days after Koehler's discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 84</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

Messier 84 or M84, also known as NGC 4374, is a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Charles Messier discovered the object in 1781 in a systematic search for "nebulous objects" in the night sky. It is the 84th object in the Messier Catalogue and in the heavily populated core of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, part of the local supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 85</span> Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

Messier 85 is a lenticular galaxy, or elliptical galaxy for other authors, in the Coma Berenices constellation. It is 60 million light-years away, and has a diameter of about 36.99 kiloparsecs across.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 89</span> Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo

Messier 89 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by Charles Messier on March 18, 1781. M89 is a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 106</span> Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

Messier 106 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated from radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole. NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106. Besides the two visible arms, it has two "anomalous arms" detectable using an X-ray telescope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultraluminous X-ray source</span>

In astronomy and astrophysics, an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) is less luminous than an active galactic nucleus but more consistently luminous than any known stellar process (over 1039 erg/s, or 1032 watts), assuming that it radiates isotropically (the same in all directions). Typically there is about one ULX per galaxy in galaxies which host them, but some galaxies contain many. The Milky Way has not been shown to contain an ULX, although SS 433 is a candidate. The main interest in ULXs stems from their luminosity exceeding the Eddington luminosity of neutron stars and even stellar black holes. It is not known what powers ULXs; models include beamed emission of stellar mass objects, accreting intermediate-mass black holes, and super-Eddington emission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3384</span> Galaxy in the constellation Leo

NGC 3384 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Leo. The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 as part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue. The high age of the stars in the central region of NGC 3384 was confirmed after analysis of their color. More than 80% were found to be Population II stars which are over a billion years old. The supermassive black hole at the core has a mass of 1.6+0.1
−0.2×107 M☉.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binary black hole</span> System consisting of two black holes in close orbit around each other

A binary black hole (BBH), or black hole binary, is a system consisting of two black holes in close orbit around each other. Like black holes themselves, binary black holes are often divided into binary stellar black holes, formed either as remnants of high-mass binary star systems or by dynamic processes and mutual capture; and binary supermassive black holes, believed to be a result of galactic mergers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3585</span> Galaxy in the constellation Hydra

NGC 3585 is an elliptical or a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Hydra. It is located at a distance of circa 60 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3585 is about 80,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 9, 1784.

References

  1. ↑ Shemmer, O.; Netzer, H.; Maiolino, R.; Oliva, E.; Croom, S.; Corbett, E.; di Fabrizio, L. (2004). "Near-infrared spectroscopy of high-redshift active galactic nuclei: I. A metallicity-accretion rate relationship". The Astrophysical Journal. 614 (2): 547–557. arXiv: astro-ph/0406559 . Bibcode:2004ApJ...614..547S. doi:10.1086/423607. S2CID   119010341.
  2. ↑ Klesman, Alison (29 June 2017). "Astronomers spot a pair of orbiting supermassive black holes". Astronomy Magazine.
  3. ↑ Ghisellini, Gabriele; Foschini, Luigi; Volonteri, Marta; Ghirlanda, Giancarlo; et al. (14 Jul 2009). "The blazar S5 0014+813: a real or apparent monster?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 399 (1): L24–L28. arXiv: 0906.0575 . Bibcode:2009MNRAS.399L..24G. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2009.00716.x . S2CID   14438667. 17:53:24 GMT.
  4. ↑ Riechers, Dominik A.; Walter, Fabian; Carilli, Christopher L.; Lewis, Geraint F. (2009). "Imaging The Molecular Gas in a z = 3.9 Quasar Host Galaxy at 0."3 Resolution: A Central, Sub-Kiloparsec Scale Star Formation Reservoir in APM 08279+5255". The Astrophysical Journal. 690 (1): 463–485. arXiv: 0809.0754 . Bibcode:2009ApJ...690..463R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/1/463. S2CID   13959993.
  5. ↑ Saturni, F. G.; Trevese, D.; Vagnetti, F.; Perna, M.; Dadina, M. (2016). "A multi-epoch spectroscopic study of the BAL quasar APM 08279+5255. II. Emission- and absorption-line variability time lags". Astronomy and Astrophysics . 587: A43. arXiv: 1512.03195 . Bibcode:2016A&A...587A..43S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527152. S2CID   118548618.
  6. ↑ M87's satellite galaxy NGC 4486B, SEDS
  7. ↑ Romani, Roger W. (2006). "The Spectral Energy Distribution of the High-z Blazar Q0906+6930". The Astronomical Journal. 132 (5): 1959–1963. arXiv: astro-ph/0607581 . Bibcode:2006AJ....132.1959R. doi:10.1086/508216. S2CID   119331684.
  8. ↑ Nola Taylor Redd (March 5, 2014). "Monster Black Hole Spins at Half the Speed of Light". Space.com . Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  9. ↑ Sakano, Masaaki; Imanishi, Kensuke; Tsujimoto, Masahiro; Koyama, Katsuji; Maeda, Yoshitomo (1999). "Further Studies of 1E 1740.7−2942 with ASCA". The Astrophysical Journal. 520 (1): 316–323. arXiv: astro-ph/9903376 . Bibcode:1999ApJ...520..316S. doi: 10.1086/307441 . S2CID   17988034.
  10. ↑ Foellmi, Cédric (2009). "What is the closest black hole to the Sun?". New Astronomy. 14 (8): 674–691. arXiv: 0812.4232 . Bibcode:2009NewA...14..674F. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2009.04.003. S2CID   12843219.
  11. ↑ Burke, Mark J.; Raychaudhury, Somak; Kraft, Ralph P.; Brassington, Nicola J.; Hardcastle, Martin J.; Goodger, Joanna L.; Sivakoff, Gregory R.; Forman, William R.; Jones, Christine; Woodley, Kristin A.; Murray, Stephen S.; Kainulainen, Jouni; Birkinshaw, Mark; Croston, Judith H.; Evans, Daniel A.; Gilfanov, Marat; Jordán, Andrés; Sarazin, Craig L.; Voss, Rasmus; Worrall, Diana M.; Zhang, Zhongli (2012). "A Transient Sub-Eddington Black Hole X-Ray Binary Candidate in the Dust Lanes of Centaurus A". The Astrophysical Journal. 749 (2): 112. arXiv: 1202.3149 . Bibcode:2012ApJ...749..112B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/749/2/112. S2CID   49949444.
  12. ↑ Kreidberg, Laura; Bailyn, Charles D.; Farr, Will M.; Kalogera, Vicky (2012). "Mass Measurements of Black Holes in X-ray Transients: is There a Mass Gap?". The Astrophysical Journal. 757 (36): 17pp. arXiv: 1205.1805 . Bibcode:2012ApJ...757...36K. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/757/1/36. S2CID   118452794.
  13. 1 2 Andrea Thompson (1 April 2008). "Smallest Black Hole Found". Space.com.
  14. ↑ Knapp, Alex (2012-02-22). "The Smallest Known Black Hole Has 20 Million Mile Per Hour Winds". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  15. ↑ NASA.gov, "NASA's RXTE Detects 'Heartbeat' of Smallest Black Hole Candidate", 2011.12.15 (accessed 2011.12.17)
  16. ↑ Liu, Jifeng; et al. (27 November 2019). "A wide star–black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements". Nature . 575 (7784): 618–621. arXiv: 1911.11989 . Bibcode:2019Natur.575..618L. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1766-2. PMID   31776491. S2CID   208310287 . Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  17. ↑ Chinese Academy of Science (27 November 2019). "Chinese Academy of Sciences leads discovery of unpredicted stellar black hole". EurekAlert! . Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  18. ↑ ScienceDaily, "Heaviest Stellar Black Hole Discovered In Nearby Galaxy", Oct. 18, 2007 (accessed 12-12-2009)
  19. ↑ Kailash Sahu; et al. (Jan 31, 2022). "An Isolated Stellar-mass Black Hole Detected through Astrometric Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal. 933 (1): 83. arXiv: 2201.13296 . Bibcode:2022ApJ...933...83S. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac739e . S2CID   246430448.
  20. ↑ Lam, Casey Y.; Lu, Jessica R.; Udalski, Andrzej; Bond, Ian; Bennett, David P.; Skowron, Jan; Mroz, Przemek; Poleski, Radek; Sumi, Takahiro; Szymanski, Michal K.; Kozlowski, Szymon (2022-05-31). "An Isolated Mass-gap Black Hole or Neutron Star Detected with Astrometric Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 933 (1): L23. arXiv: 2202.01903 . Bibcode:2022ApJ...933L..23L. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac7442 . S2CID   246608178.
  21. ↑ Gianopoulos, Andrea (2022-06-07). "Hubble Determines Mass of Isolated Black Hole Roaming Milky Way". NASA. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
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  23. ↑ Valtonen, M. J.; Nilsson, K.; Sillanpää, A.; et al. (2006). "The 2005 November Outburst in OJ 287 and the Binary Black Hole Model". The Astrophysical Journal. 643 (1): L9–L12. Bibcode:2006ApJ...643L...9V. doi: 10.1086/505039 .
  24. ↑ Xaq Rzetelny (8 January 2015). "Supermassive black hole binary discovered".
  25. ↑ Matthew J. Graham; S. George Djorgovski; Daniel Stern; Eilat Glikman; Andrew J. Drake; Ashish A. Mahabal; et al. (25 July 2014). "A possible close supermassive black-hole binary in a quasar with optical periodicity". Nature. 518 (7537) (published 7 January 2015): 74–76. arXiv: 1501.01375 . Bibcode:2015Natur.518...74G. doi:10.1038/nature14143. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   25561176. S2CID   4459433.
  26. ↑ ESA (25 April 2014). "Unique pair of hidden black holes discovered by XMM-Newton". Space Daily.
  27. 1 2 Deane, R. P.; Paragi, Z.; Jarvis, M. J.; Coriat, M.; Bernardi, G.; Fender, R. P.; et al. (24 June 2014). "A close-pair binary in a distant triple supermassive black hole system". Nature. 511 (7507) (published July 2014): 57–60. arXiv: 1406.6365 . Bibcode:2014Natur.511...57D. doi:10.1038/nature13454. PMID   24990745. S2CID   4461647.
  28. ↑ Schawinski, Kevin; Urry, Meg; Treister, Ezequiel; Simmons, Brooke; Natarajan, Priyamvada; Glikman, Eilat (29 November 2011). "Evidence for Three Accreting Black Holes in a Galaxy at z ~ 1.35: A Snapshot of Recently Formed Black Hole Seeds?". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 743 (2) (published December 2011): 6. arXiv: 1111.6973 . Bibcode:2011ApJ...743L..37S. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/743/2/L37. S2CID   118497392. L37.
  29. ↑ Liu, Xin; Shen, Yue; Strauss, Michael A. (18 April 2011). "Cosmic Train Wreck by Massive Black Holes: Discovery of a Kiloparsec-scale Triple Active Galactic Nucleus". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 736 (1) (published July 2011): L7–L11. arXiv: 1104.3391 . Bibcode:2011ApJ...736L...7L. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/736/1/L7. S2CID   118350891. L7.
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