In A Galaxy Far Far Away, Two Biggest Ever Black Holes Found
Question asked by smriti in #Coffee Room on Dec 13, 2011
smriti · Dec 13, 2011
Rank C3 - EXPERT
A team of Astronomers led by Douglas O Richstone of the department of astronomy at the University of Michigan, have found the two biggest black holes recorded yet. The black holes are reported to be one billions times of the our sun's mass. Until now, the record was held by the black hole at the centre of the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87, measuring 6.3bn suns.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crazyengineers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F12%2Fgalaxy.jpg&hash=945796be94a589072ba2329cde8a4963)
The first black hole was found in the galaxy NGC 3842 at a distance of around 320m light years away from the earth, in the Leo constellation. The black hole is situated at the centre with a mass equivalent to 3.7 billion suns. The other black hole, which is even bigger, was found at the core of NGC 4889, the brightest galaxy in the Coma cluster. This black hole holds a mass of 21bn suns located around 336m light years from Earth.
The two supermassive black holes were discovered using the data on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini North and Keck 2 facilities in Hawaii. The mass of galaxies are usually related to the mass of their central black holes, but both of these holes are heavier than predicted. This might provide scientists with clues on how the black holes and galaxies formed and evolved.
Source: Guardian Image Credit: Black Hole Encyclopedia Posted in: #Coffee Room
The first black hole was found in the galaxy NGC 3842 at a distance of around 320m light years away from the earth, in the Leo constellation. The black hole is situated at the centre with a mass equivalent to 3.7 billion suns. The other black hole, which is even bigger, was found at the core of NGC 4889, the brightest galaxy in the Coma cluster. This black hole holds a mass of 21bn suns located around 336m light years from Earth.
The two supermassive black holes were discovered using the data on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini North and Keck 2 facilities in Hawaii. The mass of galaxies are usually related to the mass of their central black holes, but both of these holes are heavier than predicted. This might provide scientists with clues on how the black holes and galaxies formed and evolved.
Source: Guardian Image Credit: Black Hole Encyclopedia Posted in: #Coffee Room
