Elusive Intermediate Mass Black Hole Revealed by Cosmic Belch

Gemini South GMOS spectrum (black line) of the nuclear region of the host galaxy of the observed off-center tidal disruption event, believed to be caused by an intermediate mass black hole. The best-fit model of the spectrum is shown in green, with the contribution from the stars alone indicated in red. The gray areas mark regions where the spectrum was affected by atmospheric absorption and the GMOS CCD gap. This Gemini spectrum was used to extract the stellar population properties and kinematics of the galaxy in which this unusual event occurred.

The frustrating search for intermediate mass black holes is advancing thanks to Gemini observations of a “belch” which escaped when a black hole devoured a star. The black hole powering the blast weighed in at a few tens of thousand solar masses and is quite possibly a missing link between supermassive and stellar mass black holes. Read more here.