14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new study conducted in X-ray and optical wavelengths, it would appear that black holes of different masses share the same feeding habits. This was theorized decades ago, but evidence to support the claim has been scarce to date.
In order to reach this conclusion, an international collaboration of researchers used data from the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) and several optical, ground-based telescopes to gain new insight into the black hole that lies at the center of the nearby spiral galaxy M81.
The team was able to determine that the incredibly-dense object weighs in at around 70 million solar masses, which puts it in the supermassive category. The goal of the study was to see whether or not this black hole feeds similarly to stellar mass black holes, which are only 10 times heavier than the Sun.
The team found that the supermassive variety accretes matter from its surroundings in very much the same way its smaller counterparts do. Famed physicist Albert Einstein hypothesized this would be the case when developing his theory on general relativity, and his assumptions are now finally certified.