Mysterious Object: Exiled Black Hole or Massive Supernova?

An international team of researchers have brought attention to an unknown object in our Universe - a unique source of light at the edge of a galaxy some 90 million light-years away. Based off observational data, experts have theorized that this can be one of two incredibly unique things: either a giant black hole that was somehow exiled from the center of its own galaxy, or an incredibly massive star that is self-destructing.

"With the data we have in hand, we can't yet distinguish between these two scenarios," astronomers Michael Koss, who is leading the investigation of this object, said in a recent release.

In a study recently published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Koss and his colleagues closely examined the properties of the object, known as SDSS1133, via data from NASA's Swift satellite and other faculties.

"One exciting discovery made with NASA's Swift is that the brightness of SDSS1133 has changed little in optical or ultraviolet light for a decade, which is not something typically seen in a young supernova remnant," he explained.

Even prior to these modern observations, SDSS1133 was not ignored. The team was able to detect it in astronomical surveys dating back more than 60 years.

That means that either the object is a star in unusually long death throes - potentially due to an incredible size - or it's not a star at all.

"We suspect we're seeing the aftermath of a merger of two small galaxies and their central black holes," said co-author Laura Blecha.

Blecha, an Einstein Fellow in the University of Maryland's Department of Astronomy, is a leading theorist in simulating recoils, or "kicks." This occurs when the large amount of energy and waves in space-time resulting from the merger of two black holes can physically "kick" the combined black hole right out of its home galaxy.

"Astronomers searching for recoiling black holes have been unable to confirm a detection," she explained, "so finding even one of these sources would be a major discovery."

You can watch a simulation of how this black hole ejection occurs below.

[Credit: Related multimedia from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio ]