Supermassive Black Hole Spotted: ESO VLTI Shares Best 'Thermal Image' of the Core

A black hole 'a billion times the mass of the Sun' was recently discovered in galaxy Messier 77 (M77). Astronomers said that this black hole was actually hiding behind a thick cloud of cosmic dust!

Many space fans are probably familiar with black holes, which are defined as a cosmic bodies with intense gravity. Note that its gravitational fields are so strong, it attracts all nearby matter, including light.

However, not all black holes are dark voids as the sci-fi movies would portray. Researchers said that this newly discovered black hole, which is one of the biggest to be discovered, outshines the rest of its galaxy with its brightness.

Supermassive Black Hole Discovered: Galaxy Messier 77

Sources from Newsweek explain that the supermassive black hole is located on the heart of M77. This black hole has been feeding off the galaxy's matter in exchange for powerful emissions.

Note that these emissions expel energy that outshines the stars in M77. Researchers referred to this discovery as active galactic nuclei (AGNs).

A co-author of the paper detailing this discovery, Bruno Lopez, told Newsweek that "AGNs are extremely powerful objects. They are actually the brightest light sources we know."

He analogized the newly discovered black hole to be "a billion times the mass of our Sun," which constantly tears down matter "in an overheated accretion disk, producing jets, winds, sublimating dust." Lopez playfully joked the environment in that area "must really be hell."

'Thermal Image' of Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) shared photos of this exciting discovery. According to Space, astronomers used their Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) to properly observe the space phenomena.

Experts also shared that had to equip their Multi Aperture Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Experiment (MATISSE) to ESO. MATISSE is a handy instrument that can see through a broad range of infrared wavelengths, which helped astronomers see past the dust clouds.

Photos revealed a thick ring of cosmic dust and gas over the black hole. The whole principle is explained at the Unified Model of AGN, which states "AGNs have the same structure, but may look different based on how they are viewed from Earth."

Bloomberg tweeted an article about the topic together with its photo.

An Exciting Discovery: One of the Biggest Black Hole

Researchers hope that this newly discovered supermassive black hole can help them gain a better insight into AGNs and galaxies. They pointed out that Earth's solar system, which resides in the Milky Way, also works with the same principle.

Violeta Gámez Rosas, an author of a similar study, said in a statement this discovery "could also help us better understand the history of the Milky Way, which harbors a supermassive black hole at its center that may have been active in the past."

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