Scientists believe that galaxies have black holes at their core, with these monstrosities accounting for some 0.5% of the galaxy’s mass.
This was found to be inaccurate, because a super massive galactic black hole was found named CID-947, and it accounted for 10% of its galaxy’s mass. This has thrown the entire theory of how galaxies formed according to IFL Science.
The galaxy is 11.7 billion years old and seems to have grown faster than the galaxy around it. Two billion years post Big Bang, it is one of the biggest ones found and is seven BILLION times as massive as our Sun.
In a statement, the lead author of the study Mr Benny Trakhtenbrot from the Zurich Institute for Astronomy said that “gigantic black hole within a normal-size galaxy,” far exceeding the size expected for black holes in galaxies. Speaking to IFLS, he added that “the black hole had to grow first, and the galaxy is experiencing its period of maximum growth later.”
The galaxy somehow manages to still keep creating stars and grow, despite the current prevailing theory being that the radiation emitted by a growing black hole would prevent the growth of new stars.
Space.com says that this discovery might provide support for theories that believe that black holes were particularly prolific when the universe was smaller and denser in the beginning.
“This project specifically targeted moderate black holes that inhabit typical galaxies today,” said Claudia Megan Urry, Yale’s Israel Munson professor of astrophysics and co-author of the study, in a statement. “It was quite a shock to see such a ginormous black hole in such a deep field.”
Astronomers who contributed to this endeavor came from around the world, and were from universities like Yale, ETH Zurich.
Source Collective Evolution
Thats big
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.