Astronomers have found the largest black hole in the universe: its mass is 17 billion Suns – News

Astronomers have found a supermassive black hole that daily absorbs an amount of gas and dust equal to the mass of the Sun.

This is reported by Science Alert with reference to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.

A team of scientists led by Australian astronomers found that the mass of the black hole at the center of the quasar J0529-4351 is about 17 billion Suns. It is growing so fast that it has practically reached the maximum limit of absorbed substances.

A quasar is an extremely bright active galactic nucleus. Its radiation is fed by a supermassive black hole.

J0529-4351 is a quasar found at Cosmic Noon (about 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang). This is a very early period in the history of the universe.

Astronomers have calculated that the found black hole is growing at a rate of about 370 solar masses per year. This is the maximum stable speed at which black holes can feed. It is also called the Eddington limit.

If the velocity increases, the matter will begin to glow so strongly that the radiation pressure will push it away until it is out of gravitational reach.

Although there are many black holes that risk crossing the Eddington limit, the newly discovered one is the brightest and most “predatory” of them.

To date, scientists have not yet established the exact mechanisms for the formation of supermassive black holes. A study of the quasar J0529-4351 may help to find out.

We will remind you that astronomers discovered 18 black holes that “tore apart and swallowed” nearby stars.