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Supermassive Black Hole Is Thrown Out of Galaxy

Posted by samzenpus on from the moving-to-better-quarters dept.

DarkKnightRadick writes "An undergrad student at the University of Utrecht, Marianne Heida, has found evidence of a supermassive black hole being tossed out of its galaxy. According to the article, the black hole — which has a mass equivalent to one billion suns — is possibly the culmination of two galaxies merging (or colliding, depending on how you like to look at it) and their black holes merging, creating one supermassive beast. The black hole was found using the Chandra Source Catalog (from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory). The direction of the expulsion is also possibly indicative of the direction of rotation of the two black holes as they circled each other before merging."

7 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. We are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...insignificant

    1. Re:We are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ...insignificant

      Only because we don't do cool undergrad work like this.

    2. Re:We are... by VocationalZero · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ... said the creature with the most complex structure in the universe (that we know of) in his or her head.

  2. Where's the Beef? er, Bow Shock? by AbsoluteXyro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm no astrophysicist but shouldn't a galactic anchor supermassive black hole tearing ass through it's soon-to-be former host galaxy be dragging a fair amount of material with it and creating a bow shock, much as this runaway star is doing?

  3. Re:Where's the Beef? er, Bow Shock? by Fujisawa+Sensei · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm no astrophysicist but shouldn't a galactic anchor supermassive black hole tearing ass through it's soon-to-be former host galaxy be dragging a fair amount of material with it and creating a bow shock, much as this runaway star is doing?

    What do you think is generating the x-rays they're using to spot the black hole?

    --
    If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
  4. it's "its", goddamnit by glwtta · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Come on, "editors", would it kill you to edit every once in a while?

    --
    sic transit gloria mundi
  5. Re:Where's the Beef? er, Bow Shock? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Raising this point causes a random question to pop into my mind. How hard would you have to pull on a star (by passing by it with a strong gravity well, for example) to kill the star?

    I guess it's more about the force difference between the force applied to different sides of the star, but I'm curious. If a rift opens up in the side of the star, the high pressure plasma inside has to be pretty eager to escape.

    Um, no. Despite what Star Trek might have you believe, you can't open up a "rift" in a star. It's a ball of plasma - imagine trying to crack open a flame.