Astronomers have discovered a mammoth black hole containing as much mass as 17billion Suns. The monster object is more than 11 times wider than the orbit of Neptune, the eighth planet in our Solar System. It lies at the heart of a small lens-shaped galaxy called NGC1277, 220million light years away in the constellation Perseus.

News of the incredible object comes as a separate research team reported the discovery of a quasar with the most energetic outflow ever seen. Observations of the incredible quasar known as SDSS J1106+1939 may answer questions about how the mass of a galaxy is linked to its central black hole mass and why there are so few large galaxies in the universe. The black hole at NGC1277 makes up an enormous 14 per cent of the galaxy's mass. Other black holes found at the centres of galaxies only account for around 0.1 per cent.
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© PANews of the incredible object comes as a separate research team reported the discovery of a quasar with the most energetic outflow ever seen.

Observations of the incredible quasar known as SDSS J1106+1939 may answer questions about how the mass of a galaxy is linked to its central black hole mass and why there are so few large galaxies in the universe.

The black hole at NGC1277 makes up an enormous 14 per cent of the galaxy's mass. Other black holes found at the centres of galaxies only account for around 0.1 per cent.

Black holes are formed from matter collapsing to the point where normal laws of physics break down. Their gravity is so strong that space and time are distorted, and not even light can escape.

Describing NGC1277, lead scientist Dr Karl Gebhardt, from the University of Texas at Austin, US, said: 'This is a really oddball galaxy. It's almost all black hole.

'This could be the first object in a new class of galaxy-black hole systems.'

A description of the black hole, found by astronomers using the nine-metre Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas, appears in the journal Nature.

The discovery could change theories of how black holes and galaxies form and evolve, say the scientists.


The second black hole announced today was spotted using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Paranal, Chile, which found the most energetic quasar outflow ever discovered.

The rate that energy is carried away by the huge mass of material ejected is equivalent to two trillion times the power output of the sun.

'This is about 100 times higher than the total power output of the Milky Way galaxy - it's a real monster outflow,' said Nahum Arav, an associate professor of physics in College of Science and leader of the research team.

Theorists have predicted energy flows of this magnitude, and simulations have suggested these outflows impact the galaxies around them, but it has all been speculation - until now.

'For the last 15 years many theorists have said that if there were such powerful outflows it would help answer many questions on the formation of galaxies, on the behavior of black holes, and on the enrichment of the intergalactic medium with elements other than hydrogen and helium,' Professor Arav said.

'This discovery means we can better explain the formation of galaxies. There are hundreds of people doing the theoretical side of the work.

'They hypothesise outflows in their simulations, and now we've found an outflow in the magnitude that has only been theorised in the past.

'Now they can refine their already impressive models and base them on empirical data.'

Quasars are light phenomenon produced as material falls into a black hole producing a huge amount of energy. The bigger the black hole, the bigger the quasar.

The Milky Way, says Professor Arav, is a big galaxy with a 'smallish' black hole.

The black hole at the heart of quasar SDSS J1106-1939 is massive, estimated to be a thousand times heavier than the black hole in the Milky Way.

And while black holes are noted for pulling material in, quasars accelerate some of the material and eject it at high speed.

The larger the quasar, the more material it can take, the higher speed it can accelerate it, and the further it can eject the material.

Every year, according to the team's analysis, a mass of more than 400 times that of the sun is streaming away from the quasar at a speed of 8,000 kilometers per second - five times more powerful than the previous record holder.

'I've been looking for something like this for a decade, so it's thrilling to finally find one of the monster outflows that have been predicted,' Professor Arav said.