NASA study reveals suspected black hole is actually an ultraluminous pulsar

(Galaxy M82: the location of the pulsar – Photo Credit: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Toulouse/M. Bachetti/NOAO)

A new NASA study has revealed that an Ultraluminous X-ray Source (ULX) that astronomers had thought was a black hole is actually the brightest pulsar ever recorded.

First medium sized black hole discovered in Messier 82

(An image of the Messier 82 galaxy showing the medium sized black hole M82 X-1 in the inset – Photo Credit: NASA/H. Feng et al)

For the first time, scientists have measured the mass of a medium sized black hole, confirming their highly debated existence.