New mystery object could be lightest black hole ever seen

[Judi Lynn]

By Robert Lea published about 5 hours ago

"Uncovering the true nature of the companion will be a turning point in our understanding of neutron stars, black holes, and whatever else might be lurking in the black hole mass gap."



a dark black orb in space and a white star with purple clouds shooting out of it
Illustrations of a black hole (left) and magnetic fields erupting from the surface of a neutron star (right). (Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger, ESA/Gaia/DPAC)


Astronomers have discovered a mystery object in the Milky Way that is more massive than the heaviest neutron star but lighter than the smallest black hole.

The mystery body could help scientists better determine where to draw the dividing line between neutron stars and black holes, both born when a massive star dies.

"Either possibility for the nature of the companion is exciting," team leader and University of Manchester professor of astrophysics Ben Stappers said in a statement. "A pulsar–black hole system will be an important target for testing theories of gravity, and a heavy neutron star will provide new insights into nuclear physics at very high densities."

The object was discovered using the , which is comprised of 64 antennas located in the Northern Cape of South Africa. The dense stellar remnant is orbiting a rapidly spinning neutron star or "millisecond pulsar" located around 40,000 light-years away within a dense clump of stars called a "globular cluster" in the Milky Way.

More:
https://www.space.com/mystery-object-lightest-black-hole-heaviest-neutron-star