<p>Yes as StephanG said there are thought to be 100 million black holes in our galaxy composed of approximately 100 billion stars. Most of these are thought to be stellar mass black holes. Not the super massive black hole assumed to be at the center of our galaxy. Some references are:<a href="http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q7.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q7.html</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/we-share-milky-way-100-million-black-holes" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.sciencenews.org/article/we-share-milky-way-100-million-black-holes</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T00:15:34.427Z
Follow up question: do we have any idea what the mean mass of those black holes might me?
Alex Robinson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T00:25:15.573Z
Well most of these formed as stellar mass black holes meaning they had a mass no larger than about 1.4 solar masses.  I don't know how they have grown since forming though.
Natsfan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T06:43:15.063Z
The average mass of stellar black holes that have been measured is about 10 solar masses.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T09:05:59.867Z
@RobJeffries do you have a source on that?
Alex Robinson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T14:15:38.053Z
@Cursed1701 There is a straightforward table on the relevant wikipedia page, with sources to the original literature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_black_hole
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-20T00:14:10.227Z
2017-08-20T00:14:10.227Z
Natsfan
<p>I have attempted to research this topic due to curiosity, but I have yet to find a credible answer, the best I could find is <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/764801/MILLIONS-black-holes-capable-of-swallowing-Earth-asteroids" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> article, which has no listed sources, and the author has also done similar "click bait" style headlines with little to no evidence.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-19T22:32:13.693Z
The UK's Express newspaper strikes again !  Click bait is a good word for it. :-)  [This article on the Science News website](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/we-share-milky-way-100-million-black-holes) quotes it as 100 million.  As we're not sure how many stars are in the milky way, the black hole estimate is very rough ( we think there are about 100 to 400 billion stars ).
StephenG - Help Ukraine
<black-hole>
How many wandering black holes are there in the milky way?
Alex Robinson
# How many wandering black holes are there in the milky way?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-19)

I have attempted to research this topic due to curiosity, but I have yet to find a credible answer, the best I could find is [this](http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/764801/MILLIONS-black-holes-capable-of-swallowing-Earth-asteroids) article, which has no listed sources, and the author has also done similar "click bait" style headlines with little to no evidence.

**Tags:** black-hole

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The UK's Express newspaper strikes again !  Click bait is a good word for it. :-)  [This article on the Science News website](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/we-share-milky-way-100-million-black-holes) quotes it as 100 million.  As we're not sure how many stars are in the milky way, the black hole estimate is very rough ( we think there are about 100 to 400 billion stars ).  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-08-20. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Yes as StephanG said there are thought to be 100 million black holes in our galaxy composed of approximately 100 billion stars. Most of these are thought to be stellar mass black holes. Not the super massive black hole assumed to be at the center of our galaxy. Some references are:<http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/encyc_mod3_q7.html> and <https://www.sciencenews.org/article/we-share-milky-way-100-million-black-holes>.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Follow up question: do we have any idea what the mean mass of those black holes might me?  
> **username_2**: Well most of these formed as stellar mass black holes meaning they had a mass no larger than about 1.4 solar masses.  I don't know how they have grown since forming though.  
> **username_3**: The average mass of stellar black holes that have been measured is about 10 solar masses.  
> **username_0**: @RobJeffries do you have a source on that?  
> **username_3**: @Cursed1701 There is a straightforward table on the relevant wikipedia page, with sources to the original literature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_black_hole  

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