London, August 4 : Astrophysicists have determined that bright flares emitted by a retinue of captured stars could detect a black hole ejected from its host galaxy.
When two supermassive black holes collide, one or both may be hurled from the centre of the galaxy. Some such “recoiling” black holes can be detected by their accretion discs of swirling, glowing hot gas.
However, most black holes are stripped of their accretion discs as they are thrown into exile.
Even if they keep their discs, the black holes can consume them within tens of millions of years, leaving nothing behind but a naked, invisible black hole.