This Might Be the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Discovered
1 min read
Summary
British and Brazilian scientists from the universities of Portsmouth and Rio Grande claim to have discovered the largest black hole to date, which is 10,000 times larger than the black hole in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
The finding has been published in the Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the team asserts that the discovery could only have been made via the gravitational lens effect of the “Cosmic Horseshoe”, allowing for the measurement of the velocity of light and stars, which indicated the presence of a black hole.
Although larger black holes have been estimated, such as Ton 618, which is double the size of the new discovery, they are based on analysis of brightness, meaning that there is not enough data to claim them as the largest discoveries to date.
Instead, the team argue that their discovery is easier to observe, meaning that it could be the largest black hole discovered to date.
