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The Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy near the Milky Way, has long been a point of interest for astronomers. Named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who first documented it 500 years ago, this bright celestial object is visible from Earth’s southern hemisphere. Now, new research has revealed that this neighboring galaxy might contain something extraordinary—a supermassive black hole.
New Evidence of a Hidden Black Hole
A recent study has provided strong evidence supporting the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The discovery was made by observing the movement of nine fast-moving stars at the edges of the Milky Way. Scientists believe these stars were ejected from the Large Magellanic Cloud after a powerful interaction with the black hole.
Black holes are incredibly dense objects with gravitational forces so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Though most galaxies are thought to contain such massive black holes at their core, this is the first time one has been detected in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The Closest Supermassive Black Hole Beyond the Milky Way
The Large Magellanic Cloud is located about 160,000 light-years away from Earth. That makes this newly discovered black hole the closest known supermassive black hole outside of our own galaxy. Previously, the closest known black hole of this kind was inside the Andromeda galaxy, about 2.5 million light-years from Earth.
This discovery makes the new black hole the second closest to our planet, following the one at the center of the Milky Way, known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth. However, while Sgr A* has a mass about 4 million times that of the Sun, the black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud is significantly smaller, with a mass of about 600,000 times that of the Sun.
Even though this newly discovered black hole is among the least massive of the known supermassive black holes, it still holds significant importance in understanding how such cosmic giants evolve in smaller galaxies.
Tracking the Movement of Hypervelocity Stars
To identify the presence of the black hole, astronomers focused on a unique type of stars known as hypervelocity stars. These stars move at extremely high speeds, often traveling thousands of kilometers per second. Scientists believe that hypervelocity stars are formed when two stars orbit each other closely and then come too close to a supermassive black hole.
“The intense gravitational forces tear the pair apart. One star is captured into a tight orbit around the black hole, while the other is flung outward at extreme velocities—often exceeding thousands of kilometers per second—becoming a hypervelocity star,” said Jesse Han, a doctoral student in astrophysics at Harvard University and the lead author of the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal.
To confirm the origins of these hypervelocity stars, researchers used data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia space observatory. This powerful telescope has been tracking over a billion stars in the Milky Way with high precision.
Scientists have identified 21 hypervelocity stars in the Milky Way. While 16 of them were previously traced back to Sagittarius A*, the remaining nine were found to have originated from the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Confirmation and Future Research
“The only plausible explanation is that the Large Magellanic Cloud harbors a supermassive black hole in its center as well, analogous to Sgr A* in our galaxy,” Han said.
Han added that given the mass and structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the existence of a supermassive black hole was expected. “We just needed to find the evidence for it. It’s fun and exciting, but also something that really does make sense.”
Although this research strongly supports the existence of a black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, scientists have yet to pinpoint its exact location.
“The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the best-studied galaxies, yet this supermassive black hole’s existence was only inferred indirectly by tracing the origins of fast-moving stars. We have more work to do to actually pinpoint the location of the black hole,” said Caltech astronomer and study co-author Kareem El-Badry.
As astronomers continue to study this galaxy, they hope to gather more information about its black hole and how it affects the structure and movement of stars within the Large Magellanic Cloud. This discovery is another step in deepening our understanding of how black holes shape the universe.
