Russian astronomers at the Moscow State University who recently discovered a new black hole have dedicated it to legendary physicist Stephen Hawking who spent his entire life studying black holes and other mysteries in the Universe. The theoretical physicist passed away on March 14, 2018, while the new discovery was made two days after his demise. Scientists have named this new black hole GRB180316A.
Throughout his life, Hawking proposed new theories about black holes and the weird way of their behavior. The theoretical physicist who battled a rare motor neuron disease named ALS since the age of 21 proposed that black holes emit certain types of radiation, thus, breaking the traditional belief that all forms of matter and energy became inescapable once they enter these mysterious shallow. As an honor to the legendary physicist, the radiation emitted by the black holes is now known as Hawking radiation.
Russian astronauts made the startling discovery using the MASTER-IAC robotic telescope installed in Tenerife, Spain. The telescope succeeded in managing to focus on a star and captured the increasing brightness finally obtaining information about its source.
"MASTER devoted this optical discovery to Stephen Hawking, the Lord of Black Holes," wrote the Russian scientists in the Astronomer's Telegram Journal.
The new black hole lies in the Ophiuchus constellation. Scientists in Russia observed a gamma-ray burst in the constellation, and upon analysis, they realized that it is a black hole. According to experts, this black hole was formed after a star collapsed. It should be noted that gamma-ray bursts observed in distant galaxies are the brightest electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe.
Ophiuchus constellation lies northwest of the center of the Milky Way. Even though this constellation is very large, it still remains one of the least explored group of stars in the observable cosmos.
