Originally, scientists
thought that the largest black
holes formed and became
larger when galaxies and other
black holes collided. These collisions
allow the black hole to take in a lot
of gas and dust and merge with other black holes. But with the
discovery of this new supermassive black hole, scientists are
beginning to think that there may be more than one way black
holes are made.
“What this is saying is that you don’t need these galaxy
clusters to grow very massive black holes,” said Poshak Gandhi,
an astronomer and professor at the University of Southampton
in England. “That throws a wrench in the works of our
These two galaxies are in the
process of merging. Scientists
originally thought this was the
only way giant black holes formed.
This spiral galaxy contains
a supermassive black hole.
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