See every side of every news story
Published loading...Updated

36 Billion Solar Masses: Cosmic Horseshoe Galaxy Harbors What May Be the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Detected

COSMIC HORSESHOE GALAXY, AUG 7 – The ultramassive black hole is 36.3 billion solar masses, nearly 10,000 times heavier than the Milky Way’s central black hole, helping to reveal galaxy and black hole evolution.

  • Today, astronomers identified a black hole in the Cosmic Horseshoe galaxy about 5 billion light-years away, with a mass of 36.3 billion times the Sun, possibly the most massive ever detected.
  • In past studies, researchers struggled to measure a black hole in the Cosmic Horseshoe, but today’s paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society suggests its mass is approximately 36.3 billion solar masses, potentially making it the most massive ever detected.
  • In their methodology, the team measured the black hole’s effects by combining gravitational lensing and stellar kinematics, noting the host galaxy stars move nearly 400 km/s.
  • This discovery offers insights into how supermassive black holes and their host galaxies evolve, helping astronomers understand their relationship and galaxy star formation cessation.
  • Future searches will employ European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope data to hunt for more dormant ultramassive black holes, enabling identification and mass measurement across the universe.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?

27 Articles

Lean Right

Studies show that this is "one of the 10 most massive black holes already discovered and possibly the largest". The cosmetic object was detected through the phenomenon known as "gravitational lens.

·Portugal
Read Full Article
Center

Astronomy experts from the British University of Portsmouth have discovered the heaviest known black hole in a distant galaxy. According to the researchers' calculations, it is 36 billion times as massive as the Sun.

·Germany
Read Full Article
Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribe

Bias Distribution

  • 57% of the sources are Center
57% Center

Factuality 

To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium

Ownership

To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage

Phys.org broke the news in United Kingdom on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
Sources are mostly out of (0)

Similar News Topics