Monster black holes discovered
SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED THE two biggest black holes ever observed, each with a mass billions of times greater than the Sun’s, according to a new study published.
The two giants are located in the heart of a pair of galaxies several hundred million light years from Earth, said the study in scientific journal Nature.
Each black hole is estimated to have a mass about 10 billion times greater than the Sun, dwarfing the previously largest-known black hole, which has a mass of 6.3 billion suns.
The University of California, Berkeley, team led by Nicholas McConnell and Chung-Pei Ma said one black hole is located in NGC 3842, the brightest of a cluster of galaxies about 320 million light years from Earth.
The second hole is of “comparable or greater mass” and is located in NGC 4889, the brightest galaxy in the Coma cluster, about 335 million light years away.
Supermassive black hole bigger than predicted
“These two black holes are significantly more massive than predicted,” the astronomers wrote.
They said their calculations suggest that different evolutionary processes influence the growth of the largest galaxies and their black holes than in smaller galaxies.
Astronomers have long supposed that since the universe began it has harboured black holes with a mass the size of the two newly found giants.
These cosmic gluttons grow in tandem with their galaxies, slurping up gases, planets and stars.
“There is a symbiotic relationship between black holes and their galaxies that has existed since the dawn of time,” Kevin Schawinski, a Yale astronomer said in a June study.
RELATED STORIES
Time-lapse video: Earth from space
Mini black holes reveal their true power
‘Extinct’ galaxy stuns astronomers
Aussie amateur spots Jupiter impact
Two asteroids will narrowly miss Earth
VIDEO: aurora australis from space
Watch the northern lights online
Aurora australis light show
New measurement of the universe taken
Say goodbye to the space shuttle program
Walking on the Moon: exclusive video revealed
Solid diamond planet found
Free-floating planets found with no sun
Interplanetary superhighway
Buzz Aldrin endorses new space vision
History of the universe
Exploding star recorded in Aboriginal Dreamtime
Astronomers catch a planet being born
Hubble discovers new Pluto moon
…More stories about space
