Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Tiny Black Hole

Scientists have discovered that the lowest-mass black hole (that we know of) belongs to a Milky Way Galaxy binary system called XTE J1650-500. It has a mass about 3.8 times greater than the Sun and a diamter of about 15 miles and was discovered by NASA through a new tecnique. Using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite, the system was discovered in 2001 but until now the mass of the black hole was unknown. Check it out:

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6779

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