Brief
UK astronomers enlist public to hunt missing Milky Way black holes
The Black Hole Hunters project asks volunteers to spot brightness spikes in TESS data that could indicate a black hole lensing a companion star.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Astronomers estimate the Milky Way should contain over 10 million black holes, yet only about 70 have been identified. To narrow this gap, a UK‑based team has launched the Black Hole Hunters citizen‑science project, inviting volunteers to examine data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
What happened
The project, led by Adam McMaster of the University of Southampton, uses TESS’s continuous monitoring of stellar brightness to search for a specific lensing effect. When a black hole in a binary system passes directly between its companion star and Earth, its gravity briefly magnifies the star’s light, causing a short‑lived brightening that TESS can record.
What the reports add
Space.com notes that automated algorithms first sweep millions of TESS light curves to flag the most promising candidates. Volunteers then review these flagged sections, looking for the characteristic magnification pattern. The article emphasizes that no prior expertise is required; participants receive example images and guidance on what to look for.
What was said
"You'll be narrowing down precisely where we need to point our telescopes next, and you might be the one to discover a black hole," McMaster told Space.com. He added, "It's a simple task with no expertise required. We will show volunteers examples of what to look for so all they have to do is recognise the right patterns."
How it came about
The initiative builds on earlier Felo News coverage of black‑hole research, such as the October 11 study linking jet formation to feeding‑rate thresholds and the September 30 investigation of supermassive‑black‑hole jets affecting galaxy evolution. By leveraging TESS, originally designed for exoplanet discovery, Black Hole Hunters repurposes existing data to address the long‑standing discrepancy between predicted and observed black‑hole numbers.
Key facts
- Milky Way is predicted to contain over 10 million black holes but only about 70 have been found. (space.com)
- The Black Hole Hunters project uses TESS data to identify black holes via gravitational lensing of companion stars. (space.com)
- Project co‑lead Adam McMaster is an astronomer at the University of Southampton. (space.com)
- Automated algorithms pre‑screen TESS light curves before volunteers examine them. (space.com)
Sources
- [1] space.com — originally reported as “Astronomers want your help finding 'missing' black holes in the Milky Way”
