A missing link in black hole evolution

We have identified rapidly moving stars in the Omega Centauri star cluster, indicating the presence of a black hole at its centre with a mass of at least 8,200 solar masses. While astronomers had long assumed such intermediate-mass black holes exist, there has been a lack of reliable observations to confirm it. This discovery also establishes that Omega Centauri is the core region of a galaxy absorbed by the Milky Way billions of years ago. Stripped of its outer stars, the galactic core has since undergone little further evolution.