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A dormant black hole nine times the mass of the Sun has been found outside the Milky Way for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A researcher from the University of Sheffield says this black hole is “the first to be unequivocally detected outside our galaxy”.<\/p>\n
Researchers had searched for binary black hole systems for more than two years before finding what has become known as VFTS243.<\/p>\n
Paul Crowther, professor of astrophysics at the university, described it as a “very exciting discovery” which comes after “a number of cases have been put forward for dormant black holes”.<\/p>\n
Stellar-mass black holes form when massive stars reach the end of their lives and collapse under their own gravity. In a system of two stars orbiting each other, this process leaves behind an orbiting black hole with a bright companion star.<\/p>\n
The newly discovered dormant black hole is at least nine times the mass of Earth’s Sun and orbits a hot blue star that weighs 25 times more than the Sun.<\/p>\n
A black hole is considered dormant if it does not emit high levels of X-ray radiation, which is how such black holes are usually detected. Dormant black holes are difficult to detect as they do not interact much with their surroundings.<\/p>\n
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