As per new research, one of the largest known black holes-- J2157 -- has turned out to have an appetite to match its prodigious size. The research was carried out by the Australian National University and the results were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The black hole is almost 34 billion times the mass of the sun and eats nearly the equivalent of one sun every day. This doubles the amount that the black hole was estimated to be gobbling last month.
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J2157 is amongst the largest known black holes to humans and was discovered in 2018. This has now become the fastest-growing black hole and is very close to becoming the largest known black hole in the universe-- Abell 85, having a mass of 40 billion suns.
This black hole is 1.2 billion light-years away from the Earth and is 8,000 times the mass of black hole at the centre of Milky Way-- Sagittarius A.
As per Christopher Onken, the lead researcher in the study stated that if the Milky Way's black hole wanted to grow, it would have swallowed two-thirds of all the stars in our galaxy. This black hole is growing by 1% every one million years.
This black hole is not only the fastest-growing black hole in the universe but also the most luminous black hole ever recorded.
As per the researchers, if this black hole was at the centre of the Milky Way, it would have appeared in Earth's skies 10 times brighter than the full moon. This black hole would appear as an incredibly bright pin-point star that would outshine all the other stars in the sky.
The life on Earth would be impossible due to the emission of X-rays from the black hole. The black hole is hidden within the galaxy Holm 15A, which is 700 million light-years away from earth.
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