Astronomers have found the first black hole-powered "microquasar" in the Milky Way, Space reported on Thursday. The object is also described as the galaxy's first "microblazar," according to NewsBytes, which reported that the discovery was led by Josep Marti.
Both outlets frame the finding as a first for our galaxy: a compact source in which a black hole drives the system. Space's headline calls it the first black hole-powered microquasar in the Milky Way, while NewsBytes describes the same result as the Milky Way's first microblazar and credits Marti with leading the work.
The term microquasar refers to a small-scale version of the bright, jet-producing cores seen in distant galaxies, scaled down to a stellar-mass system. A blazar is a source whose jet points roughly toward Earth, which is why the NewsBytes report uses the more specific label "microblazar" for this object. The two reports describe the same discovery using slightly different terminology, and neither outlet's headline states a distance, mass or date of observation.
The reports, published the same day, do not include the full details of the study, such as the observing instruments used or the exact position of the source. Space and NewsBytes each present the result as the first of its kind identified in the Milky Way.
What to watch next: the full study, expected to lay out the observations behind the claim and confirm how the object's jet is oriented relative to Earth.
