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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-13-014",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-omega-centauri-stellar-black-hole",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-07-13-morning-0004",
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    "position": 14,
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    "section": "research",
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    "headline": "A Missing Black Hole Leaves a 94-Year Orbit",
    "slug": "a-missing-black-hole-leaves-a-94-year-orbit",
    "dek": "Two decades of Hubble data and new Webb measurements revealed Omega Centauri's first confirmed stellar-mass black hole through its companion star's motion.",
    "summary": "Two decades of Hubble data and new Webb measurements revealed Omega Centauri's first confirmed stellar-mass black hole through its companion star's motion.",
    "body_text": "Astronomers used astrometry from Hubble observations spanning 2002 to 2023, sharpened with Webb data, to track a visible star orbiting an unseen 4.46-solar-mass object in Omega Centauri. The mass rules out a neutron star, making oMEGACat BH-2 the cluster's first detected stellar-mass black hole. Its 94-year orbit is the longest known for a black-hole binary. One object does not account for the thousands predicted by models, but it establishes a method for finding the missing population.",
    "why_it_matters": "Two decades of Hubble data and new Webb measurements revealed Omega Centauri's first confirmed stellar-mass black hole through its companion star's motion.",
    "limitations": [
      "One object does not account for the thousands predicted by models, but it establishes a method for finding the missing population."
    ],
    "importance": 8,
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-07-13-014/a-missing-black-hole-leaves-a-94-year-orbit",
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    "first_published_at": "2026-07-13T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-07-13T13:08:06.310-04:00",
    "content_status": "new",
    "is_carryover": false,
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        "text": "Two decades of Hubble data and new Webb measurements revealed Omega Centauri's first confirmed stellar-mass black hole through its companion star's motion.",
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        "qualification": "One object does not account for the thousands predicted by models, but it establishes a method for finding the missing population."
      }
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    "source_ids": [
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    "tags": [
      "Hubble",
      "Webb",
      "black hole",
      "Omega Centauri"
    ],
    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-07-13-014",
      "title": "NASA: Hubble finds Omega Centauri stellar-mass black hole",
      "publisher": "NASA",
      "url": "https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-discovers-first-of-star-clusters-missing-black-holes/",
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      "source_type": "official_announcement",
      "is_primary_source": true,
      "published_at": "2026-07-12T20:00:00.000-04:00",
      "accessed_at": "2026-07-13T12:50:42.743-04:00",
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  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "A Missing Black Hole Leaves a 94-Year Orbit",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-07-13T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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