ARIES astronomers use India's largest optical telescope to study an intermediate-mass black hole in NGC 4395
Astronomers led by ARIES used the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope to measure an intermediate-mass black hole in the faint galaxy NGC 4395, about 4.3 million light-years away, the Science Ministry said on 17 April 2025.
Summary
A team led by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, has detected and measured the properties of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in NGC 4395, a faint galaxy about 4.3 million light-years away, the Ministry of Science & Technology said on 17 April 2025. Using the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), India's largest optical telescope, with the indigenous ADFOSC instrument and the 1.3m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope, the team led by Shivangi Pandey found gas clouds orbiting the black hole at 125 light-minutes (about 2.25 billion km) with a velocity dispersion of 545 km per second. IMBHs weigh between 100 and 100,000 Suns and are thought to be seeds of supermassive black holes. The study was published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Key facts
- Institute
- ARIES (autonomous institute of DST)
- Telescope
- 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope, India's largest optical telescope
- Target
- IMBH in galaxy NGC 4395, ~4.3 million light-years away
- Finding
- Gas clouds at 125 light-minutes (~2.25 billion km); velocity dispersion 545 km/s
- IMBH mass range
- 100 to 100,000 solar masses
- Journal
- Astrophysical Journal
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Which telescope, described as India's largest optical telescope, did ARIES astronomers use to study the intermediate-mass black hole in NGC 4395?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope
The 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), along with the 1.3m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope.
The intermediate-mass black hole studied by ARIES astronomers in April 2025 lies in which galaxy?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — NGC 4395
NGC 4395, a faint, low-luminosity active galaxy about 4.3 million light-years away.