Mystery Object in Deep Space Is Confounding Astronomers
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious object in deep space, located 40,000 light-years from Earth.
The object is a super-dense, compact entity that does not fit neatly into the characteristics of either black holes or neutron stars.
Its mass falls within the range of 2.09 to 2.71 times that of our Sun, making it a potential record-breaking neutron star or an exceptionally small black hole.
Neutron stars are the collapsed, superdense cores of stars, and if the object is one, it would be among the largest known to date.
If the object is a black hole, it could be the smallest one ever discovered, challenging existing understanding of these extremely dense objects.
The discovery is referred to as a "mass gap object" due to its unique mass range, creating uncertainty about its true nature.
The findings were published in the journal Science, with astrophysicist Maya Fishback noting the object's potential significance for understanding the physics of dense nuclear matter.
The object is located in Caldwell 73 (NGC 1851), a globular cluster formed possibly from the merger of two clusters in a dwarf galaxy.
The object is part of a binary system, paired with a pulsar, which is a rapidly rotating neutron star.
The two objects are approximately 4.97 million miles apart.
The research team suggests that the mysterious object may have formed through the merger of two neutron stars, regardless of whether it turns out to be a neutron star or a black hole.
Follow-up observations of similar objects may provide further insights into the formation and growth of neutron stars and black holes.