How does one weigh a supermassive black hole that is anywhere between a million and a billion times the mass of the Sun? The answer could be as easy as taking a snapshot of its surrounding galaxy. A team of astronomers has concluded that the larger the black hole at the centre of a spiral galaxy, the tighter the galaxy's arms wrap around itself. If correct, the simple relationship would give researchers an easy way to learn about black holes up to 8 billion light years away. (source: space.newscientist.com)
|