More Black Hole Stuff

Recently, this blog reported the discovery of the smallest black hole yet found-- an object 15 miles across and about 3.5 solar masses. Another team of astronomers have recently discovered a "mid-size" black hole of roughly 40,000 solar masses at the center of the great star cluster, Omega Centauri.

Previously, scientists had huge black holes at the centers of many, if not most or all, galaxies, and theories suggesting these objects should exist in a range of sizes and in various physical settings. Now, astronomers are beginning to find other points on the black hole continuum, not just the monsters. When observation confirms theory, confidence in our understanding of the universe increases.