This newly discovered black hole is so massive that it catapults itself directly into the top 10 largest objects. Researchers are now hoping for more discoveries.
Durham – There is a supermassive black hole at the center of most galaxies. At the heart of the Milky Way, for example, is the black hole Sagittarius A*, which is rather small at four million times the mass of the Sun. Recently, a supermassive black hole ejected from its galaxy was discovered. A research team led by James Nightingale of the University of Durham in the UK has now found an example of a very massive black hole.
“This particular black hole, with a mass of about 30 billion times that of our sun, is one of the largest black holes ever discovered,” said Nightingale, who led the research. in a journal Monthly notifications affiliate Royal Astronomical Society published has become. “This marks the upper limit of how massive a black hole can theoretically be – a very exciting finding,” said Nightingale. Because a black hole is so massive, it is no longer considered “supermassive” but rather “supermassive”.
Look far into the universe – that’s how Hubble sees the universe
Look far into the universe – that’s how Hubble sees the universe
Newly discovered: the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy
The giant black hole is located at the center of the galaxy in the Abell 1201 galaxy cluster, about 2.7 billion light years from Earth. Its mass is 32.7 billion suns, which places it in the top 10 known supermassive black holes. Massive objects can only be detected by deception, because black holes have a peculiarity: they devour everything that approaches them. Since they let nothing through – not even light – they are essentially “invisible”.
There are only two ways to find out:
- Interaction of matter with black holes: It emits energy in the form of light or radiation before falling into an active black hole. Instead, black holes throw matter in what are called “jets” into space – and this is also how black holes can be detected.
- Changes due to the mass of the black hole: The massive mass of a black hole distorts space and can scatter and magnify light. Massive objects parallel to the black hole can be magnified or even multiplied this way – experts call this phenomenon gravitational lensing.
Large dormant black holes have been discovered with a trick
“Most of the black holes that we know of are in an active state, in which matter is pulled close to the black hole, heated up, and then radiates energy in the form of light, X-rays and other radiation,” Nightingale explained. become one. communication. However, only the second method is questionable for detecting supermassive black holes, as the object is currently dormant. The research team discovered black holes because they magnify and distort objects.
It is very difficult to detect black holes in outer space.
© imago / Imaginechina-Tuchong
“With the help of gravitational lensing, inactive black holes can also be investigated,” emphasized the study’s lead author, who already hopes for more applications: “Using this approach, we can find more black holes outside our local universe and search for them. know how these exotic things move and evolve once in cosmic time,” said Nightingale. (unpaid bill)
Basic list: © imago / Imaginechina-Tuchong
