Hubble Telescope Identifies First Stellar-Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri Cluster

Astronomers have used archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope, supported by observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, to locate the first stellar-mass black hole within the Omega Centauri globular cluster. This discovery, named oMEGACat BH-2, helps address a long-standing mystery about the scarcity of black holes in the cluster. The findings indicate a lower-than-expected mass for the black hole and a long orbital period for its binary system.