Every galaxy has, at its center, ablack hole. It is an important component in the realm of the physical universe. And over time—billions of years—these black holes continue to expand, but they usually grow in relation to the expansion of the universe which houses them.
This black hole, though, seems to have grown faster than its host galaxy, as reported by Pioneer News.
As you might expect, this discovery was quite unexpected. “Our survey was designed to observe the average objects, not the exotic ones,” explains study co-author C. Megan Urry, of Yale University.
She goes on to say, “This project specifically targeted moderate black holes that inhabit typical galaxies today. It was quite a shock to see such a ginormous black hole.”
Furthermore, lead study author Benny Trakhtenbrot notes, “The measurements correspond to the mass of a typical galaxy.”
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology astrophysicist, also goes on to say, “We therefore have a gigantic black hole within a normal-size galaxy.”
Trakhtenbrot continues, “The black hole has roughly one-tenth of the mass of the host. The black hole is massive compared with the normal host galaxy.”
The result was so surprising that the astronomers had outside experts verify their results independently. The black hole and the galaxy were not growing in parallel, as many models would suggest. The black hole didn’t affect the growth of the galaxy — again, contrary to many common models and ideas in the field. The black hole has done most of its growth and is shutting down. The galaxy is still growing.”