(June 26, 2015) Using
the Subaru Telescope, researchers at the Special Astrophysical Observatory in
Russia and Kyoto University in Japan have found evidence that enigmatic objects
in nearby galaxies – called ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) – exhibit
strong outflows that are created as matter falls onto their black holes at
unexpectedly high rates. The strong outflows suggest that the black holes in
these ULXs must be much smaller than expected. Curiously, these objects appear
to be “cousins” of SS 433, one of the most exotic objects in our own Milky Way
Galaxy. The team’s observations help shed light on the nature of ULXs, and
impact our understanding of how supermassive black holes in galactic centers
are formed and how matter rapidly falls onto those black holes.