A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so powerful nothing can ever escape not particles, not electromagnetic radiation, not even light.
A team of astronomers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Physics and Astronomy discovered a previously unknown treasure trove of massive black holes in dwarf galaxies.
Thousands of dwarf galaxies are believed to have merged to shape giant spiral galaxies like the Milky Way. As Per the researcher published in ‘The Astrophysical Journal’, the discovery could imply that the supermassive black hole discovered at the centre of our galaxy grew so large by feeding on black holes from such relatively small galaxies.
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“This outcome truly blew my mind since these black holes were earlier hiding in plain sight” said lead author Mugdha Polimera.
To make the new discovery, the researchers combed through data from large numbers of galaxies gathered by the huge ‘RESOLVE and ECO’ cosmological surveys to indicate a specific type of increasing black hole that previous analyses had previously denied due to contradictory data.
The new type accounted for more than 80% of all growing black holes discovered in dwarf galaxies, “We are pinching ourselves”
“My immediate instinct was that we had ignored a plausible answer for such galaxies that rely on intense star formation.” Polimera stated.
The researchers then ruled out a range of distinct explanations involving star formation, exploratory uncertainties, and exotic astrophysics.
“The black holes we discovered are critical elements of supermassive black holes, like the one in our Milky Way galaxy, so we want to grasp anything we can regarding them.” She stated.