The fastest growing black hole ever observed has been given an approximate weight, and tips the scales at 34 billion times the mass of the Sun. Researchers who have estimated its weight also say it continues to grow, devouring the value of the matter of a Sun. per day. In addition to claiming those mondo stats, the crowded monster can also help unlock some key mysteries from the early universe.
Southern European Observatory
The “ultramassive black hole” (which is literally a kind of black hole), named J2157-3602, was discovered in 2018 and received an initial weight of 20 billion solar masses: a solar mass is a unit of mass equivalent to the Dom mass. Since then, researchers have returned and taken further measurements using the Very Large Telescope array in Chile. (In the photo, immediately below).
J2157 is “approximately 8,000 times larger than the black hole at the center of the Milky Way,” astronomer Christopher Onken of the National University of Australia told Science Alert. He added that “if the Milky Way’s black hole wanted to get fat, it would have to swallow two thirds of all the stars in our galaxy.”
ESO / HH Heyer
Onken and others described these new measures in an article recently published in the magazine, Monthly notices from the Royal Astronomical Society. In the document, which comes through ZME Science, the researchers say that the ultramassive black hole is, in addition to being gigantic, also the brightest quasar in the known universe. A quasar, depicted at the top, is essentially a black hole that absorbs gas and dust from a surrounding accretion disk. In other words, a “fed” black hole.
Although J2157 is huge beyond imagination, it is not the most massive black hole we have ever observed. That title belongs to an ultramassive black hole that powers the quasar known as TON 618, which is about 10.4 billion light years from Earth. That indescribably large light-swallowing beast weighs 66 billion solar masses. Below, for visual reference, there is a comparison of all black holes of different sizes.
Like TON 618, J2157 is also surprisingly far from Earth. According to Science Alert, J2157 is billions of light years away. However, the measurement is not as accurate as that of TON 618. J2157 can still help illuminate the early universe, however, when it was less than a billion years old. Especially when it comes to obtaining information about the galaxy in which she resides.
“Is this galaxy one of the giants of the early Universe, or did the black hole swallow an extraordinary amount from its surroundings?” Onken asked rhetorically. Depending on the answer to that question, cosmological models that explain how the universe has grown over time could be modified. Right now, astronomers are still trying to figure out how black holes can become as massive as J2157 so early in the universe’s existence.
What do you think about J2157 and its ability to swallow the mass of a Sun every day? Do you have any idea how the ultramassive hole will change our understanding of the early universe? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Featured Image: European Southern Observatory
