Researchers discover missing link between small, supermassive black holes
Researchers have identified candidates for "lite intermediate mass black holes"—a missing link between small and supermassive black holes.
These lite IMBHs, discovered using LIGO data, weigh in at a few hundred times our Sun and help explain how different types of black holes connect.
Black holes in 'mass gap' likely formed from repeated smash-ups
By digging into LIGO's third run, scientists identified five black holes in this lite range after mergers.
Some even sit in the mysterious "mass gap" where normal stars can't create them, hinting these oddballs likely form from repeated smash-ups—not just dying stars.
Discovery helps fill gaps in understanding black hole growth, evolution
This discovery helps fill big gaps in what we know about how black holes grow and evolve.
For anyone curious about space mysteries, it's another step toward understanding how the wildest objects in our universe come to be.