massive

One of the Most Massive Black Holes in the Universe Lurks at the Center of the Cosmic Horsehoe

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This figure from the research shows the relationship between the SMBH mass and the host effective velocity dispersion. The black solid line represents the relation from previous research in 2016, with dashed and dotted lines showing the 1 sigma and 3 sigma scatter, respectively. Horseshoe is labelled and clearly deviates from established relationship. The other galaxies labelled nearby also contain UMBHs that deviate significantly. Image Credit: Melo-Carneiro et al. 2025.

In 2007, astronomers discovered the Cosmic Horseshoe, a gravitationally lensed system of galaxies about five-and-a-half billion light-years away. The foreground galaxy’s mass magnifies and distorts the image of a distant background galaxy whose light has travelled for billions of years before reaching us. The foreground and background galaxies are in such perfect alignment that they … Read more

Mysterious fast radio burst traced back to massive ‘cosmic graveyard’ of ancient stars

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a bright white fuzzy dot on a dark grey background

Astronomers have been forced to reassess the origins of mysterious, rapid radio wave blasts called “fast radio bursts” (FRBs). This rethink was brought about by an FRB first detected last year, which has been traced back to the “cosmic graveyard” of a massive “dead” galaxy filled with ancient stars located 2 billion light-years from Earth. … Read more