Meet ‘lite intermediate black holes,’ the supermassive black hole’s smaller, much more mysterious cousin

Merging black holes generate gravitational waves, which astronomers can track. SXS, CC BY-ND

Black holes are massive, strange and incredibly powerful astronomical objects. Scientists know that supermassive black holes reside in the centers of most galaxies.

And they understand how certain stars form the comparatively smaller stellar mass black holes once they reach the end of their life. Understanding how the smaller stellar mass black holes could form the supermassive black holes helps astronomers learn about how the universe grows and evolves.