Supermassive Black Holes Even Heavier Than Thought

The enormous black holes that lurk at the hearts of all galaxies are significantly bigger than astronomers had imagined, a new study suggests.

Researchers have used a new method to measure the distance to the active spiral galaxy NGC 4151 — whose core is dubbed the “Eye of Sauron” because of its resemblance to the structure in the “Lord of the Rings” films — with unprecedented precision. This calculation enabled them to determine the mass of NGC 4151’s central black hole more accurately — and the results were surprising.

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CrazyNeutrino said:

Supermassive Black Holes Even Heavier Than Thought

The enormous black holes that lurk at the hearts of all galaxies are significantly bigger than astronomers had imagined, a new study suggests.

Researchers have used a new method to measure the distance to the active spiral galaxy NGC 4151 — whose core is dubbed the “Eye of Sauron” because of its resemblance to the structure in the “Lord of the Rings” films — with unprecedented precision. This calculation enabled them to determine the mass of NGC 4151’s central black hole more accurately — and the results were surprising.

more…

“As NGC 4151’s black hole draws in nearby gas, the material gets heated up and releases ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This radiation, in turn, heats up a ring of dust that orbits the black hole, causing the dust to give off infrared radiation. Observations by Earth-based telescopes have revealed that the time delay between the UV and infrared emission is 30 days. Because the speed of light is known, calculating the distance between the black hole and the dust ring is a relatively straightforward matter.”

That’s a clever technique. A good one I wouldn’t have thought of. I don’t know any good UV “Earth-based” telescopes though, presumably they mean “Space-based” UV and “Earth-based” IR.