Unveiling a colossal black hole through the detection of spacetime distortions

In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have recently provided insights into the colossal black holes that reside at the cores of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

The first-ever image of the black hole at the center of our Galaxy, Sagittarius A*, was released, revealing a supermassive black hole with a mass exceeding one million times that of our Sun. This discovery serves as a humbling reminder of just how small we are within the cosmos.

Astronomers have also found that supermassive black holes are not exclusive to our Galaxy. They inhabit the cores of many distant galaxies, with the most massive galaxies, such as Abell 1201, harboring the largest black holes. These ultramassive black holes, like the one in Abell 1201, can be approximately 33 billion times the mass of our Sun.

To study these cosmic behemoths, astronomers map out the orbits of stars in nearby galaxies. In the case of Abell 1201, a unique opportunity to discover a black hole via gravitational lensing was presented through the gravitational lens Abell 1201. The gravitational lensing signal in Abell 1201 was so significant that it required the inclusion of the black hole's gravity, in addition to the bending caused by stars and dark matter, to reproduce what was observed in the data.

The researcher undertook a detailed numerical analysis, simulating millions of different ways for light to have traveled across the Universe and comparing them to what was observed in the image of Abell 1201. The findings of this research, which were published in the September 2023 issue of a certain website, aim to answer the question of how enormous can black holes truly be in the Universe, particularly in the most massive galaxies.

Moreover, in more distant galaxies, the central supermassive black hole may be 'active', emitting bright emissions across the full electromagnetic spectrum. By studying the relativistic effects of the black hole's gravity on this emission, astronomers can deduce its mass.

The researcher hopes to find more objects like Abell 1201, which can reveal the mass of their central supermassive black hole. This continued exploration will undoubtedly provide us with a deeper understanding of the universe's most mysterious and awe-inspiring phenomena.