Joint research led by Michiko Fujii of the University of Tokyo demonstrated a possible formation mechanism of intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters, star clusters that could contain tens of thousands or even millions of tightly packed stars. The first ever star-by-star massive cluster-formation simulations revealed that sufficiently dense molecular clouds, the “birthing nests” of star clusters, can give birth to very massive stars that evolve into intermediate-mass black holes. The findings were published in the journal Science.

• Research News (Press Release from UTokyo)

Star cluster forming in a giant molecular cloud reproduced by the simulation.
Visualized by Takaaki Takeda (VASA Entertainment Inc.)