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The Research was LED by Carlos Melo-Carneiro from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
This enormous black hole is located in a galaxy called LRG 3-757. (Photo Credit: X)
Astronomers have revealed an ultramassive black hole with a mass of 36 billion times that of the Sun. This enormous black hole is located at the centre of a distant galaxy called LRG 3-757. The discovery was made while studying the Cosmic Horseshoe, a gravitational lens system which is located about five-and-a-half billion light-years away. It is called an ultramassive black hole because this term is often used to describe a supermassive black hole with more than 5 billion solar masses.
The research, titled “Unveiling a 36 Billion Solar Mass Black Hole at the Centre of the Cosmic Horseshoe Gravitational Lens”, was led by Carlos Melo-Carneiro from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
“Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are found at the centre of every massive galaxy, with their masses tightly connected to their host galaxies through a co-evolution over cosmic time,” the authors wrote in their paper.
Scientists estimate black hole masses using a concept called the MBH-sigma Relation. It is a relationship that is linked between the mass of a supermassive black hole to the movement of stars in the central region of its galaxy, known as velocity dispersion (sigmae). Velocity dispersion measures how fast the stars are moving and how much their speeds vary. A higher velocity dispersion means the stars move faster and more randomly.
The black hole in LRG 3-757 does not follow this expected pattern. The researchers explain, “Our findings place the Cosmic Horseshoe ~1.5 sigma above the MBH-sigmae relation, supporting an emerging trend observed in BGCs and other massive galaxies. This suggests a steeper MBH-sigmae relationship at the highest masses, potentially driven by a different co-evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies.”
But what is the reason behind this unusual MBH-sigmae relation in massive galaxies?
One possible reason is a process called “scouring,” which happens when two massive galaxies merge. “In this process, the binary SMBHs dynamically expel stars from the central regions of the merged galaxy, effectively reducing the stellar velocity dispersion while leaving the SMBH mass largely unchanged,” the researchers noted.
Another explanation could be due to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). When black holes actively consume surrounding matter, they become AGNs that release powerful jets and radiation that can quench star formation and possibly alter the central structure of the galaxy.
“Such UMBH could be remnants of extremely luminous quasars, which experienced rapid SMBH accretion episodes in the early Universe,” the authors suggested.
The study also suggests that LRG 3-757 may be part of a fossil group. A fossil group is a collection of galaxies where smaller galaxies have merged into one large central galaxy over time. These groups are in the later stages of evolution where activity has slowed. Since they no longer form many new stars, they are often called “red and dead” galaxies. There is also very little interaction with other galaxies in these groups.
“Fossil groups, as remnants of early galaxy mergers, may follow distinct evolutionary pathways compared to local galaxies, potentially explaining the high BH mass,” the authors write.
“This new era of discovery promises to deepen our understanding of galaxy evolution and the interplay between baryonic and DM components,” the authors concluded.
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