Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in ω Centauri

Maximilian Häberle (), Nadine Neumayer, Anil Seth, Andrea Bellini, Mattia Libralato, Holger Baumgardt, Matthew Whitaker, Antoine Dumont, Mayte Alfaro-Cuello, Jay Anderson, Callie Clontz, Nikolay Kacharov, Sebastian Kamann, Anja Feldmeier-Krause, Antonino Milone, Maria Selina Nitschai, Renuka Pechetti and Glenn Ven
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Maximilian Häberle: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Nadine Neumayer: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Anil Seth: University of Utah
Andrea Bellini: Space Telescope Science Institute
Mattia Libralato: Space Telescope Science Institute
Holger Baumgardt: The University of Queensland
Matthew Whitaker: University of Utah
Antoine Dumont: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Mayte Alfaro-Cuello: Universidad Central de Chile
Jay Anderson: Space Telescope Science Institute
Callie Clontz: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Nikolay Kacharov: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics
Sebastian Kamann: Liverpool John Moores University
Anja Feldmeier-Krause: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Antonino Milone: Università Degli Studi di Padova
Maria Selina Nitschai: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Renuka Pechetti: Liverpool John Moores University
Glenn Ven: University of Vienna

Nature, 2024, vol. 631, issue 8020, 285-288

Abstract: Abstract Black holes have been found over a wide range of masses, from stellar remnants with masses of 5–150 solar masses (M☉), to those found at the centres of galaxies with M > 105M☉. However, only a few debated candidate black holes exist between 150M☉ and 105M☉. Determining the population of these intermediate-mass black holes is an important step towards understanding supermassive black hole formation in the early universe1,2. Several studies have claimed the detection of a central black hole in ω Centauri, the most massive globular cluster of the Milky Way3–5. However, these studies have been questioned because of the possible mass contribution of stellar mass black holes, their sensitivity to the cluster centre and the lack of fast-moving stars above the escape velocity6–9. Here we report the observations of seven fast-moving stars in the central 3 arcsec (0.08 pc) of ω Centauri. The velocities of the fast-moving stars are significantly higher than the expected central escape velocity of the star cluster, so their presence can be explained only by being bound to a massive black hole. From the velocities alone, we can infer a firm lower limit of the black hole mass of about 8,200M☉, making this a good case for an intermediate-mass black hole in the local universe.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07511-z

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