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What Would a Planet Mass Black Hole Look Like?

-- Remy | September 20, 2020

Question:

I have heard that some researchers think that black holes the mass of planets are relatively common throughout the universe. If this is true, planetary-mass black holes are likely to be orbiting planets of other stars, and be detected by exoplanet-detection methods. What would a planetary-mass black hole orbiting another star “look like” if detected through various exoplanet methods (such as transit, radial velocity, direct imaging, etc.)? If they “appear” differently from other exoplanets, have any planetary-mass black holes been detected orbiting other stars, or are there any candidates? Thank you for your consideration.

-- Remy

Answer:

As a black hole of any mass is in most cases detected due to its gravitational influence on nearby objects, it is likely that a planet-mass black hole would be detected due to its gravitational pull on nearby objects like a star. To my knowledge the existence of planetary-mass black holes is at this point only speculation.

-- Jeff Mangum

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