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Largest Black Hole Measured

Posted by kdawson on from the that's-no-moon dept.

porkpickle tips us to a BBC article on the quasar OJ287, a binary object containing largest black hole yet discovered, weighing in at 18 billion times the mass of Sol. Researchers were able to estimate its mass due to the presence of a smaller black hole in orbit around it. When the smaller companion's orbit intersects OJ287's accretion disk, once every 12 years, it triggers a burst of radiation that was detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope. More detail and a diagram are available on the Turku University site.

1 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Re:no pictures by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Neither of them are working for me today
    "Today"?! How often do you feel the need to stare at a gaping anus?!?
    --
    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.