Astronomers discover ultramassive black holes, huge enough to hold 30 billion suns

The universe's largest black hole has been found by astronomers. It's estimated that 30 billion suns may fit within the black hole. It can be found near the galactic core, which is quite far from home. This black hole is so enormous that scientists use the term "ultramassive" instead of the more common "supermassive."

The ultramassive black hole was discovered using a novel method, according to the Royal Astronomical Society's published results. The method, known as gravitational lensing, in which one galaxy is utilised as a magnifying glass to study another, more distant galaxy, in the backdrop. Light is deflected around incredibly huge objects due to the pull of gravity in this scenario. Astronomers commonly employ gravitational lensing, which acts like a natural magnifying lens, to examine very distant objects that conventional telescopes cannot.

The astronomers were able to study the light bending properties of a black hole located hundreds of millions of light-years away in a galaxy. The galaxy containing the black hole is part of the Abell 1201 group of galaxies.

"This particular black hole, which is roughly 30 billion times the mass of our sun, is one of the biggest ever detected and on the upper limit of how large we believe black holes can theoretically become, so it is an extremely exciting discovery," Lead author James Nightingale of Durham University said in a statement.

The Hubble Space Telescope was able to confirm the magnitude of the ultramassive black hole by analysing the magnification of the foreground object in a set of photographs.

The inactivity of this black hole has been noted by scientists. It is not consuming excessive amounts of matter or emitting powerful X-ray radiation.

Also, READ: 5 planets align: Twitterati awestruck by rare Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Mars celestial show, here's how to watch

"Most of the biggest black holes that we know about are in an active state, where matter pulled in close to the black hole heats up and releases energy in the form of light, X-rays, and other radiation," Nightingale said. "However, gravitational lensing makes it possible to study inactive black holes, something not currently possible in distant galaxies. This approach could let us detect many more black holes beyond our local universe and reveal how these exotic objects evolved further back in cosmic time."

(With agencies inputs)