Astronomers have uncovered what could potentially be the largest black hole ever recorded. This colossal cosmic entity surpasses the mass of a staggering 30 billion suns and is termed an ‘ultramassive’ black hole.
The more common supermassive black holes found within galaxies typically weigh a few million to a few billion solar masses.
This black hole was discovered while astronomers were observing a galaxy. By utilizing the gravitational force of the intervening galaxy, they were able to amplify the image of the background object—an effect known as gravitational lensing.
James Nightingale, the lead author of the study and an astrophysicist from Durham University in the United Kingdom (UK), remarked that this black hole stands as one of the largest ever detected and approaches the upper limit of theoretical black hole size.
To determine its size, the team analyzed a sequence of images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Through sophisticated computer modeling, they simulated the extent to which light bends around the galaxy housing the black hole.
Remarkably, this black hole represents the first discovery of its kind utilizing this technique. Although its enormity is undeniable, it exhibits a relatively low level of activity. Such inactive black holes pose a considerable challenge to a scientific study by alternative means.
Nightingale explained that gravitational lensing permits the investigation of dormant black holes, a task that is currently unattainable in distant galaxies. This approach holds the potential to detect numerous black holes beyond our immediate cosmic vicinity and shed light on their evolutionary history.
The findings were published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
