Astronomers catch an elusive black hole

“This is a once-in-a-career kind of finding. Every time I think about it, I have a hard time sleeping,” said Anil Seth, associate professor of astronomy at the U and co-principal investigator of the study. “I think that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This is really, truly extraordinary evidence.”
New research, led by Seth and scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy, have identified fast-moving stars in the star cluster Omega Centauri that provide solid evidence for a central black hole in the cluster. With at least 8,200 solar masses, it’s the best candidate for a class of black holes astronomers have long believed to exist: intermediate-mass black holes, formed in the early stages of galaxy evolution. The discovery bolsters the case for Omega Centauri as the core region of a galaxy that was swallowed by the Milky Way billions of years ago. Stripped of its outer stars, that galaxy nucleus has remained "frozen in time" since then.
Video is based on the study:
Häberle, M., Neumayer, N., Seth, A. et al. Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in ω Centauri. Nature 631, 285-288 (2024). doi.org/10.103...
Expert:
Anil Seth, associate professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah
Music:
Glimpsing Infinity, Asher Fulero
Background visualizations:
- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
- ESA/Hubble
- ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA)
- Thomas Müller/Haus der Astronomie
- M. Häberle (MPIA)
Produced by Lisa Potter, research communications specialist, University of Utah Communications
Shot by William Wallace, media visualization student technician, J. Marriott Library Video Studio

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does being pulled into a black hole physically tear you apart? and are any patterns created of the shredded mass like a snowflake or is it just a splatter painting?