Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a supermassive black hole hurtling away from its parent galaxy.
Featured Image VIA
Black holes generally loom at the centre of every galaxy, controlling the formation of stars and they can deform the fabric of space-time. However, this black hole, in a galaxy called 3C 186, has been kicked out of its spot and is now hurtling through space at a speed of nearly 5 million miles per hour. Gulp.
Image VIA
This is the first confirmed case out of several suspected “runaway black holes” and this one in particular has a mass of one million times more than our Sun. Stefano Bianchi from Roma Tre University, and co-author of the study announcing the phenomenon, said:
We estimate that it took the equivalent energy of 100 million supernovae exploding simultaneously to jettison the black hole.
The researchers also noticed that the black hole has already moved 35,000 light-years away, which is further than the Sun’s distance from the centre of the Milky Way.
Image VIA
Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t make its way towards our galaxy any time soon. Either way, it looks like this black hole is having one wild ride.
For more potentially life-threatening black holes, click HERE.
