A massive black hole is heading towards the Milky Way: it's getting closer to our galaxy (photo included).

In the center of the Milky Way's satellite galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud, astronomers have discovered signs of a supermassive black hole with a mass 600,000 times greater than that of the Sun. As the Large Magellanic Cloud is expected to collide with our galaxy in the future, this means that the black hole will also impact the Milky Way. The study has been published in The Astrophysical Journal, as reported by ScienceAlert.

Detecting any black hole is extremely challenging. For supermassive black holes located at the centers of galaxies, they can only be found if they are actively consuming matter. This process generates very bright light as the matter heats up and experiences friction. On the other hand, the existence of a massive black hole with significant gravity can be inferred by studying the unusual orbits of stars nearby.

There is another method that involves examining the motion of hypervelocity stars, which travel much faster than typical stars in the galaxy and can even escape from it. It is believed that supermassive black holes that have attracted a binary star system absorb one star while the other gains significant acceleration, allowing it to speed away into space at hypervelocity.

The authors of the study utilized data from the recently decommissioned Gaia space telescope to analyze the movement of 16 hypervelocity stars in the Milky Way. The research revealed that 7 of these stars were accelerated by the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy. The remaining 9 stars likely originated from the Large Magellanic Cloud. The analysis of the motion of these hypervelocity stars suggests that they have likely embarked on a journey to another galaxy under the influence of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This black hole is estimated by scientists to have a mass 600,000 times greater than that of the Sun. However, this black hole, if it truly exists, still needs to be confirmed.

Currently, the Large Magellanic Cloud, along with the presumed black hole, is orbiting the Milky Way at a distance of about 160,000 light-years, which is relatively close in cosmic terms. At the same time, this galaxy is gradually approaching the Milky Way.

Astronomers believe that in approximately 2 billion years, the neighboring galaxy will collide with the Milky Way, initiating their merger. Following the collision of the two galaxies, the two supermassive black holes will also collide. The smaller black hole will eventually merge with Sagittarius A*, which has a mass 4.3 million times that of the Sun. This will result in the creation of an even more massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

The authors of the study aim to confirm the existence of the supermassive black hole in the neighboring galaxy and determine its properties during future observations.