New Data Shows Supermassive Black Holes Grow Faster Than Previously Thought

CREDIT: Gabriel Perez Diaz View full size image

Astronomers from Swinburne University of Technology have discovered that supermassive black holes are growing much faster than previously thought. New research shows each ten-fold increase of a galaxy's stellar mass is associated with a much larger 100-fold increase in its black hole mass. Scientists previously thought supermassive black holes, located at the center of galaxies, increased their mass in step with the growth of their host galaxy. Swinburne Astronomers created this animation to show the fate of some of the stars which venture too close to the central supermassive black hole.

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