On March 31 of last year, two NASA scientists (Nikolai Shaposhnikov and Lev Titarchuk) discovered what appears to be the smallest black hole on record. This "little guy" is only 15 miles in diameter and has a mass 3.8 times that of our sun--thus barely fitting the current minimum specifications for a black hole. Now what I find so interesting is that although this is just a wee little tear in spacetime, the punch it packs is more dangerous than larger black holes. Take for example the supermassive black hole in the centre of our galaxy. ( This newly discovered black hole is also located within the Milky Way in a region known as XTE J1650-500. Catchy, non?) It, like other supermassive black holes (which have masses varying between millions and billions of times that of our sun), does its job of keeping the galaxies a'movin with its grand amount of gravity. I am unclear as to the purpose this mini-black hole is--if it indeed has one at all. However my personal opinion is that this black hole,along with any others of that size, must in some way help maintain the balance of our galaxy. Unfortunately there is no possible way of testing that opinion.
So word of caution to intergalactic space travelers out there: beware of unforeseen small black holes. Failure to proceed with caution may result in transportation to 1969. Watch for Captain Kirk; he'll be waiting.
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