14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the Brigham Young University in the US say that, by combining information obtained by the Kepler space observatory and ground-based data, they managed to determine the mass of a distant supermassive black hole.
In a report in the Astrophysical Journal, the scientists detail that, according to their estimates, the black hole holds the mass equivalent of about 8 million stars similar to our Sun, whose mass is said to be one of 1.989 x 1030 kilograms.
“Using measurements that were done at BYU, we were able to determine that the mass of the central black hole for this galaxy was about 8 million times the mass of the sun – that’s a really really massive object,” said study co-author Michael Joner.
This supermassive black hole whose mass Micharl Joner and his colleagues managed to determine using Kepler and ground-based data sits in a galaxy known as KA 1858, at a distance of about 100 million light-years from Earth.
The scientists explain that, in order to pin down the mass of this celestial object, they had to study the behavior of the material spiraling towards it. More precisely, the researchers focused on determining the speed of the material moving close around the core of KA 1858 and heaving towards it.
If you have about 3 minutes to spare, check out the video below to learn more about this project.
