Hubble image archive
Microlensing Black Hole
The star-filled sky in this Hubble Space Telescope photo is located in the direction of the Galactic center. The brightness of stars are monitored to see if any change in apparent brightness is made by a foreground object drifting in front of them. The warping of space by the int...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2022
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2022-001-01fqhafq5x7yrm23k1w9xbagez
The star-filled sky in this Hubble Space Telescope photo is located in the direction of the Galactic center. The brightness of stars are monitored to see if any change in apparent brightness is made by a foreground object drifting in front of them. The warping of space by the interloper would momentarily brighten the appearance of a background star, due to an effect called gravitational lensing. One such event is shown along the four close-up frames at the bottom. The arrow points to a star that momentarily brightened, as first captured by Hubble beginning in August, 2011. This was caused by a foreground black hole drifting in front of the star, along our line-of-sight. The star brightened and then subsequently faded back to its normal brightness as the black hole passed by. Because a black hole doesn't emit or reflect light, it cannot be directly observed. But its unique thumbprint on the fabric of space can be measured through these so-called microlensing events. Though an estimated 100 million isolated black holes roam our galaxy, finding the telltale signature of one is a needle-in-haystack search for Hubble astronomers.
Credits
Science
NASA, ESA, Kailash Sahu (STScI)
Image Processing
Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | OGLE-2011-BLG-462 |
| Object Description | Microlensing black hole |
| R.A. Position | 17:51:41.9 |
| Dec. Position | -29:37:27.2 |
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Distance | 5,000 light-years |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from programs , and (K. Sahu) |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | 8 Aug. 2011, 31 Oct. 2011, 9 Sept. 2012 and 29 Aug. 2017 |
| Filters | F606W and F814W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (greyscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Cyan: F606W Orange: F814W |
Downloads
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov