BLACK HOLE IMAGE TAKEN BY NASA OBSERVATORY, 2000-09-12 (photo)

An x-ray image, taken by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and released September 12, 2000, of the central region of the starburst galaxy M82 shows a black hole (center bright object) that scientists say bridges the gap between small and large black holes. The black hole, with a mass of more than 500 suns, is the first confirmed case of such a large black hole outside the nucleus of a galaxy, and is believed to represent a new type of black hole formed by the merger of scores of black holes, or by the collapse of a "hyperstar" formed by the coalescence of many stars. ME