UK scientists have discovered an ultramassive black hole around 33 billion times the mass of the Sun.
It comes as scientists from Durham University said the gargantuan black hole is one of the biggest ever found.
The team described its findings, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, as “extremely exciting”.
Lead author Dr James Nightingale, of the Department of Physics at Durham University, said: “This particular black hole, which is roughly 30 billion times the mass of our Sun, is one of the biggest ever detected and on the upper limit of how large we believe black holes can theoretically become, so it is an extremely exciting discovery.”
What are Ultramassive black holes?
Ultramassive black holes are rare and elusive, and their origins are unclear.
They are the most massive objects in the universe, at between 10 billion and 40 billion times the mass of the Sun.
Astronomers believe they can be found at the centre of all large galaxies such as the Milky Way.
Although their origins are unclear, some believe that black holes are formed from the extreme merger of massive galaxies billions of years ago when the universe was still young.
How did scientists discover the Ultramassive black holes?
Researchers behind the discovery used a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, where they took help from a nearby galaxy by converting it into a giant magnifying glass.
This revealed the presence of the ultramassive black hole, a region where gravity’s pull is so powerful that not even light can escape.
The scientists used supercomputer simulations at Durham University and images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope to confirm the size of the supermassive black hole.
They said this is the first black hole found using gravitational lensing.
Speaking of the discovery, Dr Nightingale said: “Most of the biggest black holes that we know about are in an active state, where matter pulled in close to the black hole heats up and releases energy in the form of light, X-rays and other radiation.
“However, gravitational lensing makes it possible to study inactive black holes, something not currently possible in distant galaxies.
“This approach could let us detect many more black holes beyond our local universe and reveal how these exotic objects evolved further back in cosmic time."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel