The massive black hole known as J2157 has a mass 34 billion times the mass of the Sun and is about 8,000 times larger than the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, engulfing nearly a sun each day. Dr. Christopher Onken At the Australian National University (ANU) on the monsters of the early universe that put an end to time, space, and the laws of physics. If a black hole in the Milky Way wanted to grow to that size, “it would have to swallow two-thirds of all the stars in our galaxy,” he added.
“We’re looking at it when the universe was only 1.2 billion years old, less than 10% of its current age,” Onken said. “This is the largest black hole weighed in the early stages of the universe.”
Could a supermassive black hole threaten its host galaxy?
Gargantuan Size a Mystery
Exactly how black holes got so big so early in the life of the universe still remains a mystery, but the research team is now hoping to get some clues, adding more. Looking for many black holes.
“We knew we were in a very massive black hole when we noticed the rapid growth rate,” said Dr. Fuyan Bian, team member and staff astronomer at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). says. “The amount of black holes that can be swallowed depends on the mass they already have. And now we know.”
Is this galaxy one of the behemoths of the early universe?
Measured with ESO’s Very Large Telescope
A team, including researchers from the University of Arizona, used ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile to accurately measure the black hole’s mass.
A giant black hole existed in front of the first star in the universe
“With a black hole this big, it’s exciting to see what we can learn about the galaxies in which it grows,” Onken said. “Is this galaxy just one of the early cosmic behemoths, or is it just a black hole engulfing an extraordinary amount of its surroundings? We need to keep digging to find out.”
Source: Christopher A Onken et al. 34 billion solar mass black hole in SMSS J2157-3602, brightest known quasar, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa1635
The Daily Galaxy with Avi Shporer, Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, by Australian National University and Wheeler, John Archibald. Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics (p. 350, Kindle Edition) .
Image credit: Nima Abkenar/ANU
Avi Sporer Researcher at MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. His Avi, a Google academic, was previously his NASA Sagan Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). His motto, not surprisingly, is Carl He Sagan’s.
