Earth and Space

The naked black hole

Stories from Physics for 11-14 14-16 IOP RESOURCES

Supermassive black holes are typically found at the centre of galaxies. However, researchers have recently discovered a ‘naked’ (ie without a surrounding galaxy) black hole travelling at high velocity. The rogue black hole is moving at 2000 km/s, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. The lead researcher commented that they hadn’t seen anything like this before and speculated that the black hole was ejected as the result of a collision between two galaxies.

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