Black hole found hiding in star cluster outside our galaxy

International research team of astronomers including Göttingen University use "dynamical method" to discover small black hole Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), astronomers including the University of Göttingen have discovered a small black hole outside the Milky Way by looking at how it influences the motion of a nearby star. This is the first time this detection method has been used to reveal the presence of a black hole outside our galaxy. The method could be key to finding hidden black holes in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and to help shed light on how these mysterious objects form and evolve. The research was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Researchers used data collected over two years with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) mounted at ESO's VLT, located in the Chilean Atacama Desert. Using MUSE meant they could observe very crowded areas, analysing the light of every single star in the vicinity. This led to the collection of information about thousands of stars in one go, at least 10 times more than with any other instrument.