WASHINGTON. Sept 8 . An enormous black hole has been discovered at the centre of our Galaxy, one that could shed light on how galaxies forms, according to findings presented on Monday at a scientific conference. reports AFP.

Proof of the long-suspected black hole was presented by Andrea Ghez of the University of California at Los Angeles, who did her work at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii.

"What lies in the centre of the Milky Way has been one of this century's big science questions." said Terry Oswalt, manager of Stellar Astronomy and Astrophysics at the National Science Foundation.

"Ghez's work has massive implications (for) our understanding of how galaxies evolve." Oswalt said.

Ghez presented her research on Monday at the central Parsecs Galactic Centre Workshop '98 in Tucson. Arizona.

Black holes are formed from the remnants of collapsed stars. A. black hole consists of a large mass compacted so densely that not even light can escape the force of its massive gravity.

Since black holes are invisible. Ghez inferred its presence by searching for the gravitational influence it imposes on nearby objects she could sec. namely stars.

In 1995. using the Keck 1 telescope atop Mauna Kea. she began tracking the movement of 200 stars near the Galactic Centre.

She found 20 stars that exhibited the telling signs of influence by extreme gravitational forces.

These stars are spiralling around the black hole at a speeds of up to five million kilometers (three million miles) per hour — about 10 times the speed at which stars typically move.