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More giant black holes may be lurking across the universe than previously thought, a team of researchers from the University of Utah and other universities found.
They recently discovered the pull of a supermassive black hole in one of the tiniest, densest galaxies in the universe. It's notable because scientists haven't found such a tiny galaxy containing such a big black hole — it has the mass of 21 million suns.
And it's as mighty as its counterparts in much larger galaxies, sucking in matter at about the same speed.
The discovery "certainly opens up the possibility that there are more black holes out there," said Anil Seth, head author of a study released Thursday.
It's likely that such light-sucking objects abound in other little galaxies, Seth said Tuesday in a video news conference. Astronomers believe such tiny galaxies are actually shrapnel from collisions between larger ones.
The humongous black holes are thought to be at the center of several galaxies. They are former stars or clusters of stars that suck in light, although radiation from nearby material can escape.
The one in the dwarf galaxy takes up about 1,500 times more mass in that galaxy than its counterpart takes up in the Milky Way.
Researchers think the small galaxy, known as M60-UCD1, absorbed the black hole matter when it edged up on a giant neighboring one, as long as 10 billion years ago.
And it could get even bigger if it merges with another neighboring one that is about 1,000 times bigger than the Milky Way's central one.
Critics say the galaxy doesn't have a supermassive black hole, but rather a host of dim stars.
Seth disagrees. He said the team's observations and prior photos from the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that mass is hunkered in the middle of the galaxy, which indicates a black hole.
Seth acknowledged that researchers are hard-pressed to find more specifics about this particular black hole because the stars are dim and telescopes can't collect as much light as they need to for further analysis.
"We're really pushing the limits of our instrumentation," he said.
The researchers from around the U.S. and the world used telescopes in Hawaii and in Chile. Seth returns to Hawaii next month for another round of observation. —
Learn more
P University of Utah astronomer Anil Seth will talk about the discovery Saturday at Clark Planetarium's ATK IMAX Theater at 110 S. 400 West in Salt Lake City. Tickets are $2. Seating is available on a first-come basis.