Intermediate-Mass Black Hole | 21 Apr 2025

Source: PIB 

Indian astronomers using the Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) have detected and precisely measured the mass of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole (IMBH) in a faint galaxy located 4.3 million light-years away. 

• Intermediate-Mass Black Hole (IMBH): IMBHs are faint, mid-sized black holes (100 to 100,000 times the mass of our Sun), often located in small galaxies, and only emit strong signals when actively consuming matter 
  • This IMBH has a mass approximately 22,000 times that of the Sun, and the surrounding gas clouds orbit it at a distance of 2.25 billion km. 
  • It is consuming matter at just 6% of its maximum theoretical rate. 
• The DOT is the largest optical telescope in India, located at Devasthal, Nainital, Uttarakhand.  
  • It was commissioned in 2016 and operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES). 
• Black Holes: These are regions in space where gravity is so intense that not even light can escape.  
  • They form when a massive star collapses under its own gravity at the end of its life, creating an extremely dense object.