Astronomers find first serious microblazar candidate IRAS 18293-0941

An international team has described IRAS 18293-0941, the strongest candidate yet for a long-predicted microblazar. The object lies about 12,000 light-years away and hosts a black hole orbiting a hot giant star every 11 days, with one jet pointing at Earth.

• IRAS 18293-0941 sits in our galaxy about 12,000 light-years from Earth
• A black hole orbits a hot giant star every 11 days
• The candidate shows all expected microblazar traits except rapid variability
• The study was accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics