Oh boy: 10,000 holes at centre of the galaxy

In an echo of The Beatles’ song Day In The Life, a study points to evidence of thousands of holes – not in Blackburn, Lancashire, but at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

They are black holes, and there are probably a lot more of them than it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

The idea that a plethora of smaller black holes may surround the “supermassive” hole at the heart of the Milky Way dates back decades. But it has remained an unproven theory because the holes are so difficult to detect.

Scientists searched for X-rays emitted by a subgroup of low-mass black holes that have captured a passing star in their gravitational grip, creating a “black hole binary”.

The hunt came up with evidence of 300 to 500 of the binaries, from which it was possible to infer how many “isolated” black holes there must be at the galactic core. The answer was about 10,000.

US astrophysicist Dr Chuck Hailey, from Columbia University in New York, said: “This finding confirms a major theory and the implications are many.”

In The Beatles’ 1967 song Day In The Life, from the Sergeant Pepper album, John Lennon sings: “I read the news today, oh boy: 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire”. He adds: “Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.”