ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Space → Astronomy

Newly discovered ancient Black hole is monstrously big for its age

Tibi PuiubyTibi Puiu
February 25, 2015
in Astronomy, News, Space
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

RelatedPosts

Gravitational waves might be created at the centre of most galaxies
Oldest black hole found by astronomers — the gargantuan object lies 13 billion light years away from us
‘Cosmic Web’ of a Supermassive Black Hole Ensnares Six Galaxies
Supermassive blackholes are giants from birth

Astronomers have discovered a humongous supermassive black hole that’s 12 billion times as massive as the Sun. What’s peculiar about it isn’t necessarily its mass – some even bigger black holes have been found – but rather its age. Observations suggest that the black hole 12.8 billion light-years away, which means what scientists are reading and observing what the black hole looked like 12.8 billion years ago. But that’s only 875 million years after the Big Bang, making it the most massive black hole in the early universe – by far!

A cosmic fat kid

This is an artist's impression of a quasar with a supermassive black hole in the distant universe. Credit: Zhaoyu Li/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Misti Mountain Observatory
This is an artist’s impression of a quasar with a supermassive black hole in the distant universe. Credit: Zhaoyu Li/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Misti Mountain Observatory

Black holes, of course, can’t be imaged directly since they like to gobble up anything that comes in their line of gravity. Past a certain threshold, called the event horizon, nothing escapes its grasps – not even light. What the astronomers have imaged, however, is the quasar that surrounds the supermassive black hole. Quasars are some of the brightest and most distant objects we can see. These ultra-bright objects are likely the centers of active galaxies where supermassive black holes reside. As material spirals into the black holes, a large part of the mass is converted to energy. It is this energy that we see. And though smaller than our solar system, a single quasar can outshine an entire galaxy of a hundred billion stars. This specific quasar is 40,000 times as luminous as the entire Milky Way.

The newly discovered quasar SDSS J0100+2802 is the one with the most massive black hole and the highest luminosity among all known distant quasars. The background photo, provided by Yunnan Observatory, shows the dome of the 2.4meter telescope and the sky above it. Credit: Zhaoyu Li/Shanghai Observatory
The newly discovered quasar SDSS J0100+2802 is the one with the most massive black hole and the highest luminosity among all known distant quasars. The background photo, provided by Yunnan Observatory, shows the dome of the 2.4meter telescope and the sky above it. Credit: Zhaoyu Li/Shanghai Observatory

“Before this discovery the most massive black hole known within 1 billion years after the Big Bang was around 5 billion solar mass, less than half the mass of the new detection,” Bram Venemans, research staff scientist with Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, said for Discovery News.

It’s believed that young block holes from the early universe started off  between 100 and 100,000 times the mass of the sun, then grew by steadily eating more matter or by colliding/merging with other black holes. Neither explanations seemingly account for such a massive black hole at its age.

“How can a quasar so luminous, and a black hole so massive, form so early in the history of the universe, at an era soon after the earliest stars and galaxies have just emerged?” said Xiaohui Fan, Regents’ Professor of Astronomy at the UA’s Steward Observatory. “And what is the relationship between this monster black hole and its surrounding environment, including its host galaxy?

“This ultraluminous quasar with its supermassive black hole provides a unique laboratory to the study of the mass assembly and galaxy formation around the most massive black holes in the early universe.”

What the findings reported in Nature seem to suggest is that the co-evolution of galaxies and their central black holes aren’t necessarily linked together. Not in this case at least.

Tags: black holequasarsupermassive black hole

Share39TweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.

Related Posts

black hole
News

Astronomers Claim the Big Bang May Have Taken Place Inside a Black Hole

byJordan Strickler
4 weeks ago
News

Astronomers Just Found the Most Powerful Cosmic Event Since the Big Bang. It’s At Least 25 Times Stronger Than Any Supernova

byTibi Puiu
4 weeks ago
News

We Could One Day Power a Galactic Civilization with Spinning Black Holes

byTibi Puiu
2 months ago
News

Black Holes Might Not Be Cosmic Dead-Ends But Rather the Beginning Of White Holes

byTibi Puiu
4 months ago

Recent news

Tennis May Add Nearly 10 Years to Your Life and Most People Are Ignoring It

July 4, 2025

Humans Have Been Reshaping Earth with Fire for at Least 50,000 Years

July 4, 2025

The Strangest Microbe Ever Found Straddles The Line Between Life and Non-Life

July 4, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.