Astronomers have discovered what is said to be the biggest black hole in space history! The massive discovery was found in a small galaxy called NGC 1277, which is 250 million light-years from Earth. Scientists say that this particular black hole is the size of 17 billion suns and about 11 times as wide as the orbit of Neptune around our sun! Researchers were so baffled by its size, they took an extra year to double-check their findings!
“The first time I calculated it, I thought I must have done something wrong. We tried it again with the same instrument, then a different instrument,” astronomer Remco van den Bosch told SPACE. “Then I thought, ‘Maybe something else is happening.’”
Black holes are some of the strangest objects found in outer space. They are very dense and have such a strong gravitational attraction that light is immediately sucked into them upon contact.
Remco’s team also spotted five other galaxies near NGC 1277 that looked similar. Interestingly, the galaxy only has old stars inside of it, with the youngest star being 8 billions years old (twice the age of our sun!) Astronomers say this could mean that these large black holes were formed in the early years of the universe.
Head to SPACE to see a video of the giant discovery!