Super giant black hole discovered

Experts at the University of Texas (USA) have found the largest black hole in the universe, up to this point, opening up new research directions on how galaxies and black holes form.

Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole, with a density equivalent to 17 billion times our sun.

The 'monster' is 11 times wider in diameter than the orbit of Neptune, the eighth planet in the solar system.

NGC1277 galaxy attracted special attention
of experts - (Photo: McDonald Observatory)

It is located in the center of the galaxy NGC1277, 220 million light-years from Earth, in the constellation of the Fairy. This black hole accounts for 14% of the mass of the galaxy, eating another black hole with the galaxy (about 0.1%), while most black holes occupy less than 1% of the host galaxy's mass.

Describing NGC1277, the leader of the research team, Dr. Karl Gebhardt of the University of Texas, says this is indeed an eccentric galaxy, if not almost all of the black hole.

'It may be the first object of a newly discovered system of galaxies - black holes , ' said Gebhardt. His team found the galaxy thanks to the Hobby-Eberly telescope in Texas, according to a report published in Nature.

The results of this study can completely change the theory of the formation and development of black holes and galaxies.

Previously, astronomers always accepted the hypothesis that the galaxy was first and then the black hole. In the case of NGC1277, Gebhardt's group is investigating whether black holes appear first? And is it the black hole that has formed, and the matter surrounding it? The answers will help determine the structure of this galaxy.