Astrophysical object
Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
Cosmology & UniverseActive Research
Definition
A black hole between about 100 and 100,000 solar masses — the elusive middle range.
Scientific overview
Intermediate-mass black holes would bridge stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, but firm examples have long been scarce. Candidates come from dense star clusters and from gravitational-wave mergers producing black holes of a few hundred solar masses.
Open questions
- How common are intermediate-mass black holes?
- Are they the seeds of supermassive black holes?
Related discoveries & objects
Related topics
Knowledge connections
- Related toBlack Hole
- Related toStellar-Mass Black Hole
- Related toSupermassive Black Hole
- Related toThe First Detection of Gravitational Waves
Sources & references
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- LIGO Scientific CollaborationLIGO Scientific Collaboration & Virgo Collaboration
Direct detections of gravitational waves from compact-object mergers.