/data/photo/2022/11/05/63663372c69c5.png?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "“Scientists from the UK Discover the Largest Black Hole, 33 Billion Times the Mass of the Sun” – Kompas.com")
LONDON, KOMPAS.com – An ultramassive black hole about 33 billion times the mass of the sun has been discovered by British astronomers.
Scientists from Durham University say the giant black hole is one of the largest ever found.
The team describes its findings, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, as “very exciting”.
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Lead author of the study, as reported by Sky News, Dr James Nightingale, from the Department of Physics at Durham University, said that this particular black hole, which is roughly 30 billion times the mass of the sun, is one of the largest ever detected.
Ultramassive black holes are the most massive objects in the universe, with masses between 10 billion and 40 billion times that of the sun.
Astronomers believe that a hole can be found at the center of all large galaxies like the Milky Way, including the solar system.
Ultramassive black holes are rare and elusive, and their origins are unclear.
Some believe they were formed from extreme mergers of massive galaxies billions of years ago when the universe was young.
The researchers used a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, in which they took the help of a nearby galaxy by turning it into a giant magnifying glass.
This revealed the existence of ultramassive black holes, regions where the gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape.
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Scientists used supercomputer simulations at Durham University and images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to confirm the size of the supermassive black hole.
They say this is the first black hole discovered using gravitational lensing.
“Most of the largest black holes we know of are in an active state, in which matter pulled close to the black hole heats up and releases energy in the form of light, X-rays and other radiation,” said Dr James Nightingale.
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“However, gravitational lensing makes it possible to study inactive black holes, something that is not currently possible in distant galaxies.”
“This approach will allow us to detect more black holes beyond our local universe and reveal how these exotic bodies evolved farther back in cosmic time,” he added.
The researchers say their work opens up the important possibility that astronomers could find more ultramassive black holes than previously thought.
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This research was supported by the UK Space Agency, the Royal Society, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Research and Innovation division, and the European Research Council.
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