List of black holes

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This list of black holes (and stars considered probable candidates) is organized by mass (including black holes of undetermined mass); some items in this list are galaxies or star clusters that are believed to be organized around a black hole. Messier and New General Catalogue designations are given where possible.

Supermassive black holes and candidates

See also: List of most massive black holes and List of quasars

• 1ES 2344+514
• Ton 618 (this quasar has possibly the biggest black hole ever found, estimated at 66 billion solar masses)^[1]
• 3C 371
• 4C +37.11 (this radio galaxy is believed to have binary supermassive black holes)^[2]
• AP Lib
• S5 0014+81 (said to be a compact hyperluminous quasar, estimated at 40 billion solar masses)^[3]
• APM 08279+5255 (contains one of the largest black holes, estimated at 10-23 billion solar masses; previous candidate for largest)^[4][5]
• Arp 220
• Centaurus A
• Fornax A
• HE0450-2958
• IC 1459
• Messier 31 (or the Andromeda Galaxy)
• Messier 32
• Messier 51 (or the Whirlpool Galaxy)
• Messier 60
• Messier 77
• Messier 81 (or Bode's Galaxy)
• Messier 84
• Messier 87 (or Virgo A)
• Messier 104 (or the Sombrero Galaxy)
• Messier 105
• Messier 106
• Mrk 421
• Mrk 501
• NGC 821
• NGC 1023
• NGC 1097
• NGC 1271
• NGC 1277
• NGC 1332
• NGC 1566
• NGC 2787
• NGC 3079
• NGC 3115
• NGC 3377
• NGC 3384
• NGC 3998
• NGC 4151
• NGC 4261
• NGC 4438
• NGC 4459
• NGC 4473
• NGC 4486B (a satellite galaxy of Messier 87)^[6]
• NGC 4564
• NGC 4579
• NGC 4596
• NGC 4697
• NGC 4889
• NGC 4945
• NGC 5033
• NGC 6251
• NGC 7052
• NGC 7314
• PKS 0521-365
• Q0906+6930 (a blazar organized around a supermassive black hole)^[7]
• RX J1131 (first black hole whose spin was directly measured)^[8]
• Sagittarius A*, which is in the center of the Milky Way

Types

• Quasar
• Supermassive black hole
• Hypercompact stellar system (hypothetical object organized around a supermassive black hole)

Intermediate-mass black holes and candidates

• Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82, NGC 3034)
• GCIRS 13E
• HLX-1
• M82 X-1
• Messier 15 (NGC 7078)
• Messier 110 (NGC 205)
• Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)
• Triangulum Galaxy (Messier 33, NGC 598)

Stellar black holes and candidates

• 1E1740.7-2942 (Great Annihilator), 340 ly from Sgr A*^[9]
• 4U 1543-475/IL Lupi
• A0620-00/V616 Mon (once thought to be the closest to Earth known, at about 3,000 light years)^[10]
• CXOU J132527.6-430023 (a candidate stellar mass black hole outside of the Local Group)^[11]
• Cygnus X-1
• Cygnus X-3
• GRO J0422+32 (possibly the smallest black hole yet discovered)^[12]
• GRO J1655-40/V1033 Sco (at one time considered the smallest black hole known)^[13]
• GRS 1124-683/GU Mus
• GRS 1915+105/V1487 Aql
• GS 2000+25/QZ Vul
• GX 339-4/V821 Ara
• IGR J17091-3624 (candidate smallest known stellar black hole)^[14][15]
• LB-1 (name of both a galactic B-type star and a very closely associated over-massive stellar-mass black hole)^[16][17]
• M33 X-7 (stellar black hole with the most massive stellar companion, located in the Triangulum Galaxy)^[18]
• MOA-2011-BLG-191/OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 (first known isolated stellar black hole)^[19][20][21]
• SN 1997D (in NGC 1536)
• SS 433
• V404 Cyg
• V Puppis
• XTE J1118+480/KV UMa
• XTE J1550-564/V381 Nor
• XTE J1650-500 (at one time considered the smallest black hole known)^[13]
• XTE J1819-254/V4641 Sgr
• LMC X-1 (first X-ray source in the Large Magellanic Cloud)

Black holes detected by gravitational wave signals

Main article: List of gravitational wave observations

As of February 2019^[update], 10 mergers of binary black holes have been observed. In each case two black holes merged to a larger black hole. In addition, one neutron star merger has been observed (GW170817), forming a black hole. In addition, over 30 alerts have been issued since April 2019, of black hole merger candidates.

• GW 150914

Multiple black hole systems

Binary black holes

• EGSD2 J142033.66 525917.5 core black holes — galaxy hosting a dual AGN^[22]
• OJ 287 core black holes — a BL Lac object with a candidate binary supermassive black hole core system^[23]
• PG 1302-102 – the first binary-cored quasar — a pair of supermassive black holes at the core of this quasar^[24][25]
• SDSS J120136.02+300305.5 core black holes — a pair of supermassive black holes at the centre of this galaxy^[26]

In addition, the signal of several binary black holes merging into a single black hole and in so doing producing gravitational waves have been observed by the LIGO instrument. These are listed above in the section Black holes detected by gravitational wave signals.

Trinary black holes

As of 2014, there are 5 triple black hole systems known.^[27]

• SDSS J150243.09+111557.3 (SDSS J1502+1115) core black holes — the three components are distant tertiary J1502P, and the close binary pair J1502S composed of J1502SE and J1502SW^[27]
• GOODS J123652.77+621354.7 core black holes of triple-clump galaxy^[28]
• 2MASX J10270057+1749001 (SDSS J1027+1749) core black holes^[29]

See also

• Black hole
• Lists of black holes
• List of nearest black holes
• Supermassive black hole
• Intermediate-mass black hole
• Stellar black hole
• Micro black hole
• Lists of astronomical objects

References

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2. Klesman, Alison (29 June 2017). "Astronomers spot a pair of orbiting supermassive black holes". Astronomy Magazine.
3. Ghisellini, Gabriele; Foschini, Luigi; Volonteri, Marta; Ghirlanda, Giancarlo; et al. (14 Jul 2009). "The blazar S5 0014+813: a real or apparent monster?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 399 (1): L24–L28. arXiv:0906.0575. Bibcode:2009MNRAS.399L..24G. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2009.00716.x. S2CID 14438667. 17:53:24 GMT.
4. Riechers, Dominik A.; Walter, Fabian; Carilli, Christopher L.; Lewis, Geraint F. (2009). "Imaging The Molecular Gas in a z = 3.9 Quasar Host Galaxy at 0."3 Resolution: A Central, Sub-Kiloparsec Scale Star Formation Reservoir in APM 08279+5255". The Astrophysical Journal. 690 (1): 463–485. arXiv:0809.0754. Bibcode:2009ApJ...690..463R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/1/463. S2CID 13959993.
5. Saturni, F. G.; Trevese, D.; Vagnetti, F.; Perna, M.; Dadina, M. (2016). "A multi-epoch spectroscopic study of the BAL quasar APM 08279+5255. II. Emission- and absorption-line variability time lags". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 587: A43. arXiv:1512.03195. Bibcode:2016A&A...587A..43S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527152. S2CID 118548618.
6. M87's satellite galaxy NGC 4486B, SEDS
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8. Nola Taylor Redd (March 5, 2014). "Monster Black Hole Spins at Half the Speed of Light". Space.com. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
9. Sakano, Masaaki; Imanishi, Kensuke; Tsujimoto, Masahiro; Koyama, Katsuji; Maeda, Yoshitomo (1999). "Further Studies of 1E 1740.7−2942 with ASCA". The Astrophysical Journal. 520 (1): 316–323. arXiv:astro-ph/9903376. Bibcode:1999ApJ...520..316S. doi:10.1086/307441. S2CID 17988034.
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12. Kreidberg, Laura; Bailyn, Charles D.; Farr, Will M.; Kalogera, Vicky (2012). "Mass Measurements of Black Holes in X-ray Transients: is There a Mass Gap?". The Astrophysical Journal. 757 (36): 17pp. arXiv:1205.1805. Bibcode:2012ApJ...757...36K. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/757/1/36. S2CID 118452794.
13. Andrea Thompson (1 April 2008). "Smallest Black Hole Found". Space.com.
14. Knapp, Alex (2012-02-22). "The Smallest Known Black Hole Has 20 Million Mile Per Hour Winds". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
15. NASA.gov, "NASA's RXTE Detects 'Heartbeat' of Smallest Black Hole Candidate", 2011.12.15 (accessed 2011.12.17)
16. Liu, Jifeng; et al. (27 November 2019). "A wide star–black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements". Nature. 575 (7784): 618–621. arXiv:1911.11989. Bibcode:2019Natur.575..618L. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1766-2. PMID 31776491. S2CID 208310287. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
17. Chinese Academy of Science (27 November 2019). "Chinese Academy of Sciences leads discovery of unpredicted stellar black hole". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
18. ScienceDaily, "Heaviest Stellar Black Hole Discovered In Nearby Galaxy", Oct. 18, 2007 (accessed 12-12-2009)
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20. Lam, Casey Y.; Lu, Jessica R.; Udalski, Andrzej; Bond, Ian; Bennett, David P.; Skowron, Jan; Mroz, Przemek; Poleski, Radek; Sumi, Takahiro; Szymanski, Michal K.; Kozlowski, Szymon (2022-05-31). "An Isolated Mass-gap Black Hole or Neutron Star Detected with Astrometric Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 933 (1): L23. arXiv:2202.01903. Bibcode:2022ApJ...933L..23L. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac7442. S2CID 246608178.
21. Gianopoulos, Andrea (2022-06-07). "Hubble Determines Mass of Isolated Black Hole Roaming Milky Way". NASA. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
22. Gerke, Brian F.; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Lotz, Jennifer; Yan, Renbin; Barmby, P.; Coil, Alison L.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Ivison, R. J.; Lin, Lihwai; Koo, David C.; Nandra, Kirpal; Salim, Samir; Small, Todd; Weiner, Benjamin J.; Cooper, Michael C.; Davis, Marc; Faber, S. M.; Guhathakurta, Puragra; et al. (6 April 2007). "The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: AEGIS Observations of a Dual AGN AT z p 0.7". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 660 (1): L23–L26. arXiv:astro-ph/0608380. Bibcode:2007ApJ...660L..23G. doi:10.1086/517968. S2CID 14320681.
23. Valtonen, M. J.; Nilsson, K.; Sillanpää, A.; et al. (2006). "The 2005 November Outburst in OJ 287 and the Binary Black Hole Model". The Astrophysical Journal. 643 (1): L9–L12. Bibcode:2006ApJ...643L...9V. doi:10.1086/505039.
24. Xaq Rzetelny (8 January 2015). "Supermassive black hole binary discovered".
25. Matthew J. Graham; S. George Djorgovski; Daniel Stern; Eilat Glikman; Andrew J. Drake; Ashish A. Mahabal; et al. (25 July 2014). "A possible close supermassive black-hole binary in a quasar with optical periodicity". Nature. 518 (7537) (published 7 January 2015): 74–76. arXiv:1501.01375. Bibcode:2015Natur.518...74G. doi:10.1038/nature14143. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 25561176. S2CID 4459433.
26. ESA (25 April 2014). "Unique pair of hidden black holes discovered by XMM-Newton". Space Daily.
27. Deane, R. P.; Paragi, Z.; Jarvis, M. J.; Coriat, M.; Bernardi, G.; Fender, R. P.; et al. (24 June 2014). "A close-pair binary in a distant triple supermassive black hole system". Nature. 511 (7507) (published July 2014): 57–60. arXiv:1406.6365. Bibcode:2014Natur.511...57D. doi:10.1038/nature13454. PMID 24990745. S2CID 4461647.
28. Schawinski, Kevin; Urry, Meg; Treister, Ezequiel; Simmons, Brooke; Natarajan, Priyamvada; Glikman, Eilat (29 November 2011). "Evidence for Three Accreting Black Holes in a Galaxy at z ~ 1.35: A Snapshot of Recently Formed Black Hole Seeds?". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 743 (2) (published December 2011): 6. arXiv:1111.6973. Bibcode:2011ApJ...743L..37S. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/743/2/L37. S2CID 118497392. L37.
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External links

• NASA's general description of black holes.
• A list of black hole stars and candidates compiled by Dr. William Robert Johnston, Ph.D (Physics), a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas (Dallas).