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Scientists discover super-massive black hole in motion

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Science & Technology
  • Published
    18th Mar, 2021

Scientists have discovered a "restless" super-massive black hole wandering in space with a velocity of around 4,810 kilometers per second.

Context

  • Scientists have discovered a "restless" super-massive black hole wandering in space with a velocity of around 4,810 kilometers per second.
  • It has been found in the galaxy named J0437+2456.

About the finding

  • Moving Blackhole: Blackholes are generally not expected to move as they are heavier and considered to be at rest.
  • Researchers at the Center for Astrophysics-Harvard and Smithsonian have identified, it as the clearest case till the date of a supermassive black hole in motion".
  • About the galaxy: The spiral galaxy J0437+2456, located around 228 million light-years away.
  • It has a supermassive black hole that seemed to be moving at a significantly different velocity from the rest of the galaxy.
  • This super-massive black hole is believed to be around 3 million times the mass of the Sun.
  • Speed of the components of a galaxy
  • Galaxy’s H2:The galaxy's neutral hydrogen appears to be receding at a slightly higher velocity of 4,910 kilometers per second.
  • Inner Region: The velocity of the inner region of the galaxy is 4,860 kilometers per second.
  • Similar pace: The galaxy and black hole both have the same velocities.

A possible explanation of the movement

  • The galaxy could be experiencing an ongoing encounter with another massive object, like another galaxy.
  • The super-massive black hole could have collided with another super-massive black hole, generating a recoil kick that pushed the black hole out of position.
  • The wobbling could be the galaxy and black hole settling back down.
  • The black hole could have an unseen binary companion, the two objects orbiting a mutual center of gravity within the galactic nucleus.

Black Hole

  • A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing—no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from it.
  • The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole.

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